Wireless Power Transfer System With Mode Switching Using Selective Quality Factor Alteration

ABSTRACT

A wireless power transmission system includes a transmitter antenna, a transmission controller, an amplifier, and a variable resistor. The transmission controller is configured to (i) provide a driving signal for driving the transmitter antenna based on an operating frequency for the wireless power transfer system and (ii) perform one or more of encoding the wireless data signals, decoding the wireless data signals, receiving the wireless data signals, or transmitting the wireless data signals. The variable resistor is in electrical connection with the transmitter antenna and configured to alter a quality factor (Q) of the transmitter antenna, wherein alterations in the Q by the variable resistor change an operating mode of the wireless power transmission system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.Application No. 17/161,263, filed on Jan. 28, 2021 and entitled“WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEM WITH MODE SWITCHING USING SELECTIVEQUALITY FACTOR ALTERATION,” which is incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods forwireless transfer of electrical power and electrical data signals, and,more particularly, to wireless power transfer with mode switchingutilizing selective quality factor alteration.

BACKGROUND

Wireless connection systems are used in a variety of applications forthe wireless transfer of electrical energy, electrical power,electromagnetic energy, electrical data signals, among other knownwirelessly transmittable signals. Such systems often use inductivewireless power transfer, which occurs when magnetic fields created by atransmitting element induce an electric field, and hence, an electriccurrent, in a receiving element. These transmitting and receivingelements will often take the form of an antenna, such as coiled wiresand the like.

Transmission of one or more of electrical energy, electrical power,electromagnetic energy and/or electronic data signals from one of suchcoiled antennas to another, generally, operates at an operatingfrequency and/or an operating frequency range. The operating frequencymay be selected for any of a variety of reasons, such as, but notlimited to, power transfer efficiency characteristics, power levelcharacteristics, self-resonant frequency restraints, designrequirements, adherence to standards bodies’ required characteristics(e.g. electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements, specificabsorption rate (SAR) requirements, among other things), bill ofmaterials (BOM), and/or form factor constraints, among other things. Itis to be noted that, “self-resonating frequency,” as known to thosehaving skill in the art, generally refers to the resonant frequency of apassive component (e.g., an inductor) due to the parasiticcharacteristics of the component.

When such systems are operating to wirelessly transfer power from atransmission system to a receiver system via the antennas, it is oftendesired to contemporaneously communicate electronic data between thesystems. In some example systems, wireless-power-related communications(e.g., validation procedures, electronic characteristics datacommunications, voltage data, current data, device type data, amongother contemplated data communications related to wireless powertransfer) are performed using in-band communications.

Wireless connection systems are used in a variety of applications forthe wireless transfer of electrical energy, electrical power,electromagnetic energy, electrical data signals, among other knownwirelessly transmittable signals. Such systems often use inductivewireless power transfer, which occurs when magnetic fields created by atransmitting element induce an electric field, and hence, an electriccurrent, in a receiving element. These transmitting and receivingelements will often take the form of coiled wires and/or antennas.

Transmission of one or more of electrical energy, electrical power,electromagnetic energy and/or electronic data signals from one of suchcoiled antennas to another, generally, operates at an operatingfrequency and/or an operating frequency range. The operating frequencymay be selected for a variety of reasons, such as, but not limited to,power transfer characteristics, power level characteristics,self-resonant frequency restraints, design requirements, adherence tostandards bodies’ required characteristics (e.g. electromagneticinterference (EMI) requirements, specific absorption rate (SAR)requirements, among other things), bill of materials (BOM), and/or formfactor constraints, among other things. It is to be noted that,“self-resonating frequency,” as known to those having skill in the art,generally refers to the resonant frequency of a passive component (e.g.,an inductor) due to the parasitic characteristics of the component.

When such systems operate to wirelessly transfer power from atransmission system to a receiver system, via the coils and/or antennas,it is often desired to simultaneously or intermittently communicateelectronic data from one system to the other. To that end, a variety ofcommunications systems, methods, and/or apparatus have been utilized forcombined wireless power and wireless data transfer. In some examplesystems, wireless power transfer related communications (e.g.,validation procedures, electronic characteristics data communications,voltage data, current data, device type data, among other contemplateddata communications) are performed using other circuitry, such as anoptional Near Field Communications (NFC) antenna utilized to complimentthe wireless power system and/or additional Bluetooth chipsets for datacommunications, among other known communications circuits and/orantennas.

However, using additional antennas and/or circuitry can give rise toseveral disadvantages. For instance, using additional antennas and/orcircuitry can be inefficient and/or can increase the BOM of a wirelesspower system, which raises the cost for putting wireless power into anelectronic device. Further, in some such systems, out of bandcommunications caused by such additional antennas may result ininterference, such as out of band cross-talk between such antennas.Further yet, inclusion of such additional antennas and/or circuitry canresult in worsened EMI, as introduction of the additional system willcause greater harmonic distortion, in comparison to a system whereinboth a wireless power signal and a data signal are within the samechannel. Still further, inclusion of additional antennas and/orcircuitry hardware, for communications, may increase the area within adevice, for which the wireless power systems and/or components thereofreside, complicating a build of an end product.

To avoid these issues, as has been illustrated with modern NFC DirectCharge (NFC-DC) systems and/or NFC Wireless Charging systems incommercial devices, legacy hardware and/or hardware based on legacydevices may be leveraged to implement both wireless power transfer anddata transfer, either simultaneously or in an alternating manner.However, current communications antennas and/or circuits for highfrequency communications, when leveraged for wireless power transfer,have much lower power level capabilities than lower frequency wirelesspower transfer systems, such as the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qistandard devices. Utilizing higher power levels in current highfrequency circuits may result in damage to the legacy equipment.

Additionally, when utilizing higher power transfer capabilities in suchhigh frequency systems, such as those found in legacy systems, wirelesscommunications may be degraded when wireless power transfer exceeds lowpower levels (e.g., 300 mW transferred and below). However, withoutclearly communicable and non-distorted data communications, wirelesspower transfer may not be feasible.

SUMMARY

To that end, new high frequency wireless power transmission systems,which utilize new circuits for allowing higher power transfer (greaterthan 300 mW), without degrading communications below a desired standarddata protocol, are desired. Further, as higher power can more easilydegrade communications rates, systems and methods for switching betweenoperating modes, which include dynamic assignment of power level anddata rate for the wireless transfer modes are desired.

Further, a wireless power transfer system that utilizes datacommunications, systems, methods, and/or protocols, to replace a wiredconnection for communicating such device-related data and/or forwireless power related data, is desired. In such systems, it may bedesired or required to continue the use of legacy communicationsprotocols, which are utilized in wired communications, over a wirelessconnection. The systems and methods disclosed herein may be utilized tofacilitate higher speed, one-way and/or two-way, data transfer duringoperations of a wireless power system. In some examples, a wirelesspower transfer system may serve to replace a wired connection forperforming such data transfer. Device-related data may include, but isnot limited to including, operating software or firmware updates,digital media, operating instructions for the electronic device, amongany other type of data outside of the realm of wireless-power-relateddata.

Such systems and methods for data communications, when utilized as partof a combined wireless power and wireless data system, may provide formuch faster data communications, in comparison to legacy systems andmethods for wireless power in-band communications.

In some examples, the wireless communications systems may utilize abuffered communications method, wherein data can be held in one or morebuffers until the systems deems it is ready for communications. Forinstance, if one transceiver is attempting to pass a large amount ofdata, it may buffer such data until a point when the other side does nothave a need to send data and then send the data at that point, which mayallow communications to be accelerated since they can be sent “one way”over the virtual “wire” created by the inductive connection. Therefore,while such electromagnetic communications are not literally “two-way”communications utilizing two wires, virtual two-way communications areexecutable over the single inductive connection between the transmitterand receiver.

By utilizing buffers and the ability of both the transmitter and thereceiver to encode data into the wireless power signal transmitted overthe inductive connection between their respective antennas, suchcombinations of hardware and software may simulate the two-wireconnections. Thus, the systems and methods disclosed herein may beimplemented to provide a virtual serial and/or virtual universalasynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) data communications system,method, or protocol, for data transfer during wireless power transfer.

In contrast to wired serial data transmission systems such as UART, thesystems and methods disclosed herein advantageously eliminate the needfor a wired connection between communicating devices, while enablingdata communications that are interpretable by legacy systems thatutilize known data protocols, such as UART. Further, in some examples,the systems and methods disclosed herein may enable manufacturers ofsuch legacy-compatible systems to quickly introduce wireless data and/orpower connections between devices, without needing to fully reprogramtheir data protocols and/or without having to hinder interoperabilitybetween devices.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a wireless powertransmission system is disclosed. The wireless power transmission systemincludes a transmitter antenna, a transmission controller, an amplifier,and a variable resistor. The transmitter antenna is configured to couplewith at least one other antenna and transmit alternating current (AC)wireless signals to the at least one antenna, the AC wireless signalsincluding wireless power signals and wireless data signals. Thetransmission controller is configured to (i) provide a driving signalfor driving the transmitter antenna based on an operating frequency forthe wireless power transfer system and (ii) perform one or more ofencoding the wireless data signals, decoding the wireless data signals,receiving the wireless data signals, or transmitting the wireless datasignals. The amplifier includes at least one transistor and a dampingcircuit. The at least one transistor is configured to receive thedriving signal at a gate of the at least one transistor and invert adirect power (DC) input power signal to generate the AC wireless signalat the operating frequency. The damping circuit is configured to dampenthe AC wireless signals during transmission of the wireless datasignals, wherein the damping circuit includes at least a dampingtransistor that is configured to receive, from the transmissioncontroller, a damping signal for switching the transistor to controldamping during transmission of the wireless data signals. The variableresistor is in electrical connection with the transmitter antenna andconfigured to alter a quality factor (Q) of the transmitter antenna,wherein alterations in the Q by the variable resistor change anoperating mode of the wireless power transmission system.

In a refinement, the variable resistor is a digital potentiometerreceiving instructions from the transmission controller and thetransmission controller is further configured to determine an operatingmode for the wireless power transmission system and provide instructionsto the variable resistor to alter the Q to facilitate the operatingmode.

In a further refinement, the operating mode is selected from a pluralityof transmission modes and the plurality of transmission modes includes afirst transmission mode and a second transmission mode, the firsttransmission mode includes a first data rate for the wireless datasignals and a first power level for the wireless power signals, thesecond transmission mode includes a second data rate for the wirelessdata signals and a second power level for the wireless power signals,wherein the first data rate is less than the second data rate, andwherein the first power level is greater than the second power level.

In yet a further refinement, the first transmission mode is apower-priority transmission mode.

In yet another further refinement, the second transmission mode is adata-priority transmission mode.

In a refinement, selecting the operating mode for transmission of the ACwireless signals, by the transmission controller, is based, at least inpart, on at least one receiver operating condition, the at least onereceiver operating condition associated with the wireless power receiversystem.

In a further refinement, the at least one receiver operating conditionincludes a charge level of a load operatively associated with thewireless receiver system.

In another further refinement, the at least one receiver operatingcondition includes one or more of a coupling between the transmitterantenna and the receiver antenna, a displacement between the transmitterantenna and the receiver.

In a further refinement, the operating mode includes a power level forthe wireless power signals and a data rate for the wireless datasignals, the power level chosen from a series of available power levelsand the data rate chosen from a series of available data rates, each ofthe series of available power levels corresponding to one of the seriesof available data rates, wherein corresponding pairs of available powerlevels and available data rates are inversely related.

In yet a further refinement, determining the operating mode fortransmission of the AC wireless signals, by the transmission controller,includes determining the power level for the operating mode based on aselected power level, the selected power level corresponding to acorresponding member of the series of power levels, and determining thedata rate for the operating mode based on a corresponding data rate, thecorresponding data rate being a member of the series of data rates thatcorresponds with the selected member of the series of power levels.

In another further refinement, determining the operating mode fortransmission of the AC wireless signals, by the transmission controller,includes determining the data rate for the operating mode based on aselected data rate, the selected data rate corresponding to acorresponding member of the series of data rates, and determining thepower level for the operating mode based on a corresponding power level,the corresponding power level being a member of the series of powerlevels that corresponds with the corresponding member of the series ofdata rates.

In another further refinement, determining the operating mode includesdetermining one or both of the power level and the data rate, for theoperating mode, is performed by referencing a look up table ofcorresponding pairs of the series of available power levels and theseries of available data rates.

In a refinement, the operating frequency is in a range of about 13.553MHz to about 13.567 MHz.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method foroperating a wireless power transfer system is disclosed. The wirelesspower transfer system includes a wireless power transmission system anda wireless power receiver system, the wireless power transmission systemconfigured to couple with the wireless power receiver system andtransmit alternating current (AC) wireless signals to the wireless powerreceiver system, the AC wireless signals including wireless powersignals and wireless data signals. The method includes determining,using a controller of the wireless power transmission system, anoperating mode for the wireless power transmission system. The methodfurther includes altering a quality factor (Q) of a transmission antennaof the wireless power transmission system, using a variable resistor inelectrical connection with the transmission antenna, to set theoperating mode for the wireless power transmission system. The methodfurther includes performing, using the controller of the wireless powertransmission system, one or more of encoding the wireless data signals,decoding the wireless data signals, receiving the wireless data signals,transmitting the wireless data signals or combinations thereof. Themethod further includes providing, using the controller of the wirelesspower transmission system, a driving signal to an amplifier of thewireless power transmission system, the driving signal based on anoperating frequency for the wireless power transfer system and theoperating mode. The method further includes driving the transmitterantenna of the wireless power transmission system, by the amplifier,based on the driving signal.

In a refinement, determining the operating mode includes selecting anoperating mode from a plurality of transmission modes, which includes,at least, a first operating mode having a first power level and a firstdata rate and a second operating mode having a second power level and asecond power rate, wherein the first data rate is greater than thesecond data rate and the first power level is less than the second powerlevel.

In a further refinement, selecting the operating mode from the pluralityof transmission nodes includes selecting a either a power-priority modeor a data priority mode.

In a refinement, the operating mode includes a power level for thewireless power signals and a data rate for the wireless data signals,the power level chosen from a series of available power levels and thedata rate chosen from a series of available data rates, each of theseries of available power levels corresponding to one of the series ofavailable data rates, wherein corresponding pairs of available powerlevels and available data rates are inversely related.

In a refinement, the method further includes receiving, by thecontroller of the wireless power transmission system, instructions fromthe wireless power receiver system, and selecting the operating modefrom the plurality of transmission nodes is based, at least in part, onthe instructions from the wireless power receiver system.

In a further refinement, selecting the operating mode includesdetermining the transmission operating mode for selection based, atleast in part, on at least one receiver operating condition associatedwith the wireless receiver system and the instructions from the wirelesspower receiver system includes the at least one receiver operatingcondition.

In a refinement, selecting the operating mode includes determining thetransmission operating mode for selection based, at least in part, on atleast one receiver operating condition associated with the wirelessreceiver system.

These and other aspects and features of the present disclosure will bebetter understood when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for wirelesslytransferring one or more of electrical energy, electrical power signals,electrical power, electromagnetic energy, electronic data, andcombinations thereof, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a wirelesstransmission system of the system of FIG. 1 and a wireless receiversystem of the system of FIG. 1 , in accordance with FIG. 1 and thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of a transmissioncontrol system of the wireless transmission system of FIG. 2 , inaccordance with FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components of a sensing system ofthe transmission control system of FIG. 3 , in accordance with FIGS. 1-3and the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components of a powerconditioning system of the wireless transmission system of FIG. 2 , inaccordance with FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , and the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of elements of the wireless transmissionsystem of FIGS. 1-5 , further illustrating components of an amplifier ofthe power conditioning system of FIG. 5 and signal characteristics forwireless power transmission, in accordance with FIGS. 1-5 and thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an electrical schematic diagram of elements of the wirelesstransmission system of FIGS. 1-6 , further illustrating components of anamplifier of the power conditioning system of FIGS. 5-6 , in accordancewith FIGS. 1-6 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary plot illustrating rise and fall of “on” and “off”conditions when a signal has in-band communications via on-off keying.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for a method for operating the wirelesstransmission system, in accordance with FIGS. 1-8 and the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for a sub-method, of the method of FIG. 9 , forselecting an operating mode for the wireless power and datatransmission, in accordance with FIGS. 1-9 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for an alternative sub-method, of the method ofFIG. 9 , for selecting an operating mode for the wireless power and datatransmission, in accordance with FIGS. 1-9 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is three plots of exemplary timing diagrams for three exampleoperating modes of the method(s) of FIGS. 9-11 , in accordance withFIGS. 1-11 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for another sub-method, of the method of FIG. 9, for selecting an operating mode for the wireless power and datatransmission, in accordance with FIGS. 1-9 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for another sub-method, of the method of FIG. 9, for selecting an operating mode for the wireless power and datatransmission, in accordance with FIGS. 1-9 and the present disclosure.

FIG. 15A is a first example plot of the inverse relationship betweendata rate and power level for the operating modes discussed withreference to FIGS. 9, 13, and 14 , in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 15B is a second example plot of the inverse relationship betweendata rate and power level for the operating modes discussed withreference to FIGS. 9, 13, and 14 , in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 15C is an example look up table (LUT) including correlated valuesfor the series of data rates and series of power levels, correlatedaccording to the inverse relationship between data rate and power levelfor the operating modes discussed with reference to FIGS. 9, 13, and 14, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating components of a receiver controlsystem and a receiver power conditioning system of the wireless receiversystem of FIG. 2 , in accordance with FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , and the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 17 is schematic functional plot of UART serial wired componentsoverlaid with example communications, by way of background.

FIG. 18 is timing diagram showing packet communications over UART serialwired communications, by way of background.

FIG. 19 is a timing diagram showing encapsulation of wirelesslytransmitted data, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 is a timing diagram showing receiver and transmitter timingfunctions, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 21A is a timing diagram showing windowing of communications, whenboth the wireless transmission system and the wireless receiver systemare communicating with virtual two-way communications, in accordancewith the present disclosure.

FIG. 21B is a timing diagram showing variable-length windowing ofcommunications, when both the wireless transmission system and thewireless receiver system are communicating with virtual two-waycommunications, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of a system segment for buffering datacommunication for transmission and receipt via near-field magneticcoupling, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 23 is a set of vertically-registered timing diagrams reflectingbuffered data communications, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 is a top view of a non-limiting, exemplary antenna, for use asone or both of a transmission antenna and a receiver antenna of thesystems, methods, or apparatus disclosed herein, in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

While the following detailed description will be given with respect tocertain illustrative embodiments, it should be understood that thedrawings are not necessarily to scale and the disclosed embodiments aresometimes illustrated diagrammatically and in partial views. Inaddition, in certain instances, details which are not necessary for anunderstanding of the disclosed subject matter or which render otherdetails too difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It shouldtherefore be understood that this disclosure is not limited to theparticular embodiments disclosed and illustrated herein, but rather to afair reading of the entire disclosure and claims, as well as anyequivalents thereto. Additional, different, or fewer components andmethods may be included in the systems and methods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth byway of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of therelevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled inthe art that the present teachings may be practiced without suchdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and/or circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, withoutdetail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the presentteachings. For example, as noted above, UART is used herein as anexample asynchronous communication scheme, and the NFC protocols areused as example synchronous communications scheme. However, other wiredand wireless communications techniques may be used while embodying theprinciples of the present disclosure.

Referring now to the drawings and with specific reference to FIG. 1 , awireless power transfer system 10 is illustrated. The wireless powertransfer system 10 provides for the wireless transmission of electricalsignals, such as, but not limited to, electrical energy, electricalpower, electrical power signals, electromagnetic energy, andelectronically transmittable data (“electronic data”). As used herein,the term “electrical power signal” refers to an electrical signaltransmitted specifically to provide meaningful electrical energy forcharging and/or directly powering a load, whereas the term “electronicdata signal” refers to an electrical signal that is utilized to conveydata across a medium.

The wireless power transfer system 10 provides for the wirelesstransmission of electrical signals via near field magnetic coupling. Asshown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the wireless power transfer system10 includes a wireless transmission system 20 and a wireless receiversystem 30. The wireless receiver system is configured to receiveelectrical signals from, at least, the wireless transmission system 20.In some examples, such as examples wherein the wireless power transfersystem is configured for wireless power transfer via the Near FieldCommunications Direct Charge (NFC-DC) or Near Field CommunicationsWireless Charging (NFC WC) draft or accepted standard, the wirelesstransmission system 20 may be referenced as a “listener” of the NFC-DCwireless transfer system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30 may bereferenced as a “poller” of the NFC-DC wireless transfer system.

As illustrated, the wireless transmission system 20 and wirelessreceiver system 30 may be configured to transmit electrical signalsacross, at least, a separation distance or gap 17. A separation distanceor gap, such as the gap 17, in the context of a wireless power transfersystem, such as the system 10, does not include a physical connection,such as a wired connection. There may be intermediary objects located ina separation distance or gap, such as, but not limited to, air, acounter top, a casing for an electronic device, a plastic filament, aninsulator, a mechanical wall, among other things; however, there is nophysical, electrical connection at such a separation distance or gap.

Thus, the combination of the wireless transmission system 20 and thewireless receiver system 30 create an electrical connection without theneed for a physical connection. As used herein, the term “electricalconnection” refers to any facilitation of a transfer of an electricalcurrent, voltage, and/or power from a first location, device, component,and/or source to a second location, device, component, and/ordestination. An “electrical connection” may be a physical connection,such as, but not limited to, a wire, a trace, a via, among otherphysical electrical connections, connecting a first location, device,component, and/or source to a second location, device, component, and/ordestination. Additionally or alternatively, an “electrical connection”may be a wireless power and/or data transfer, such as, but not limitedto, magnetic, electromagnetic, resonant, and/or inductive field, amongother wireless power and/or data transfers, connecting a first location,device, component, and/or source to a second location, device,component, and/or destination.

In some cases, the gap 17 may also be referenced as a “Z-Distance,”because, if one considers an antenna 21, 31 each to be disposedsubstantially along respective common X-Y planes, then the distanceseparating the antennas 21, 31 is the gap in a “Z” or “depth” direction.However, flexible and/or non-planar coils are certainly contemplated byembodiments of the present disclosure and, thus, it is contemplated thatthe gap 17 may not be uniform, across an envelope of connectiondistances between the antennas 21, 31. It is contemplated that varioustunings, configurations, and/or other parameters may alter the possiblemaximum distance of the gap 17, such that electrical transmission fromthe wireless transmission system 20 to the wireless receiver system 30remains possible.

The wireless power transfer system 10 operates when the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30 are coupled.As used herein, the terms “couples,” “coupled,” and “coupling” generallyrefer to magnetic field coupling, which occurs when a transmitter and/orany components thereof and a receiver and/or any components thereof arecoupled to each other through a magnetic field. Such coupling mayinclude coupling, represented by a coupling coefficient (k), that is atleast sufficient for an induced electrical power signal, from atransmitter, to be harnessed by a receiver. Coupling of the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30, in thesystem 10, may be represented by a resonant coupling coefficient of thesystem 10 and, for the purposes of wireless power transfer, the couplingcoefficient for the system 10 may be in the range of about 0.01 and 0.9.

As illustrated, the wireless transmission system 20 may be associatedwith a host device 11, which may receive power from an input powersource 12. The host device 11 may be any electrically operated device,circuit board, electronic assembly, dedicated charging device, or anyother contemplated electronic device. Example host devices 11, withwhich the wireless transmission system 20 may be associated therewith,include, but are not limited to including, a device that includes anintegrated circuit, cases for wearable electronic devices, receptaclesfor electronic devices, a portable computing device, clothing configuredwith electronics, storage medium for electronic devices, chargingapparatus for one or multiple electronic devices, dedicated electricalcharging devices, activity or sport related equipment, goods, and/ordata collection devices, among other contemplated electronic devices.

As illustrated, one or both of the wireless transmission system 20 andthe host device 11 are operatively associated with an input power source12. The input power source 12 may be or may include one or moreelectrical storage devices, such as an electrochemical cell, a batterypack, and/or a capacitor, among other storage devices. Additionally oralternatively, the input power source 12 may be any electrical inputsource (e.g., any alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC)delivery port) and may include connection apparatus from said electricalinput source to the wireless transmission system 20 (e.g., transformers,regulators, conductive conduits, traces, wires, or equipment, goods,computer, camera, mobile phone, and/or other electrical deviceconnection ports and/or adaptors, such as but not limited to USB portsand/or adaptors, among other contemplated electrical components).

Electrical energy received by the wireless transmission system 20 isthen used for at least two purposes: to provide electrical power tointernal components of the wireless transmission system 20 and toprovide electrical power to the transmitter antenna 21. The transmitterantenna 21 is configured to wirelessly transmit the electrical signalsconditioned and modified for wireless transmission by the wirelesstransmission system 20 via near-field magnetic coupling (NFMC).Near-field magnetic coupling enables the transfer of signals wirelesslythrough magnetic induction between the transmitter antenna 21 and areceiving antenna 31 of, or associated with, the wireless receiversystem 30. Near-field magnetic coupling may be and/or be referred to as“inductive coupling,” which, as used herein, is a wireless powertransmission technique that utilizes an alternating electromagneticfield to transfer electrical energy between two antennas. Such inductivecoupling is the near field wireless transmission of magnetic energybetween two magnetically coupled coils that are tuned to resonate at asimilar frequency. Accordingly, such near-field magnetic coupling mayenable efficient wireless power transmission via resonant transmissionof confined magnetic fields. Further, such near-field magnetic couplingmay provide connection via “mutual inductance,” which, as defined hereinis the production of an electromotive force in a circuit by a change incurrent in a second circuit magnetically coupled to the first.

In one or more embodiments, the inductor coils of either the transmitterantenna 21 or the receiver antenna 31 are strategically positioned tofacilitate reception and/or transmission of wirelessly transferredelectrical signals through near field magnetic induction. Antennaoperating frequencies may comprise relatively high operating frequencyranges, examples of which may include, but are not limited to, 6.78 MHz(e.g., in accordance with the Rezence and/or Airfuel interface standardand/or any other proprietary interface standard operating at a frequencyof 6.78 MHz), 13.56 MHz (e.g., in accordance with the NFC standard,defined by ISO/IEC standard 18092), 27 MHz, and/or an operatingfrequency of another proprietary operating mode. The operatingfrequencies of the antennas 21, 31 may be operating frequenciesdesignated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in theIndustrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency bands, including notlimited to 6.78 MHz, 13.56 MHz, and 27 MHz, which are designated for usein wireless power transfer. In systems wherein the wireless powertransfer system 10 is operating within the NFC-DC standards and/or draftstandards, the operating frequency may be in a range of about 13.553 MHzto about 13.567 MHz.

The transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna of the presentdisclosure may be configured to transmit and/or receive electrical powerhaving a magnitude that ranges from about 10 milliwatts (mW) to about500 watts (W). In one or more embodiments the inductor coil of thetransmitting antenna 21 is configured to resonate at a transmittingantenna resonant frequency or within a transmitting antenna resonantfrequency band.

As known to those skilled in the art, a “resonant frequency” or“resonant frequency band” refers a frequency or frequencies whereinamplitude response of the antenna is at a relative maximum, or,additionally or alternatively, the frequency or frequency band where thecapacitive reactance has a magnitude substantially similar to themagnitude of the inductive reactance. In one or more embodiments, thetransmitting antenna resonant frequency is at a high frequency, as knownto those in the art of wireless power transfer.

The wireless receiver system 30 may be associated with at least oneelectronic device 14, wherein the electronic device 14 may be any devicethat requires electrical power for any function and/or for power storage(e.g., via a battery and/or capacitor). Additionally, the electronicdevice 14 may be any device capable of receipt of electronicallytransmissible data. For example, the device may be, but is not limitedto being, a handheld computing device, a mobile device, a portableappliance, an integrated circuit, an identifiable tag, a kitchen utilitydevice, an electronic tool, an electric vehicle, a game console, arobotic device, a wearable electronic device (e.g., an electronic watch,electronically modified glasses, altered-reality (AR) glasses, virtualreality (VR) glasses, among other things), a portable scanning device, aportable identifying device, a sporting good, an embedded sensor, anInternet of Things (IoT) sensor, IoT enabled clothing, IoT enabledrecreational equipment, industrial equipment, medical equipment, amedical device a tablet computing device, a portable control device, aremote controller for an electronic device, a gaming controller, amongother things.

For the purposes of illustrating the features and characteristics of thedisclosed embodiments, arrow-ended lines are utilized to illustratetransferrable and/or communicative signals and various patterns are usedto illustrate electrical signals that are intended for powertransmission and electrical signals that are intended for thetransmission of data and/or control instructions. Solid lines indicatesignal transmission of electrical energy over a physical and/or wirelesspower transfer, in the form of power signals that are, ultimately,utilized in wireless power transmission from the wireless transmissionsystem 20 to the wireless receiver system 30. Further, dotted lines areutilized to illustrate electronically transmittable data signals, whichultimately may be wirelessly transmitted from the wireless transmissionsystem 20 to the wireless receiver system 30.

While the systems and methods herein illustrate the transmission ofwirelessly transmitted energy, wireless power signals, wirelesslytransmitted power, wirelessly transmitted electromagnetic energy, and/orelectronically transmittable data, it is certainly contemplated that thesystems, methods, and apparatus disclosed herein may be utilized in thetransmission of only one signal, various combinations of two signals, ormore than two signals and, further, it is contemplated that the systems,method, and apparatus disclosed herein may be utilized for wirelesstransmission of other electrical signals in addition to or uniquely incombination with one or more of the above mentioned signals. In someexamples, the signal paths of solid or dotted lines may represent afunctional signal path, whereas, in practical application, the actualsignal is routed through additional components en route to its indicateddestination. For example, it may be indicated that a data signal routesfrom a communications apparatus to another communications apparatus;however, in practical application, the data signal may be routed throughan amplifier, then through a transmission antenna, to a receiverantenna, where, on the receiver end, the data signal is decoded by arespective communications device of the receiver.

Turning now to FIG. 2 , the wireless connection system 10 is illustratedas a block diagram including example sub-systems of both the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30. The wirelesstransmission system 20 may include, at least, a power conditioningsystem 40, a transmission control system 26, a transmission tuningsystem 24, and the transmission antenna 21. A first portion of theelectrical energy input from the input power source 12 is configured toelectrically power components of the wireless transmission system 20such as, but not limited to, the transmission control system 26. Asecond portion of the electrical energy input from the input powersource 12 is conditioned and/or modified for wireless powertransmission, to the wireless receiver system 30, via the transmissionantenna 21. Accordingly, the second portion of the input energy ismodified and/or conditioned by the power conditioning system 40. Whilenot illustrated, it is certainly contemplated that one or both of thefirst and second portions of the input electrical energy may bemodified, conditioned, altered, and/or otherwise changed prior toreceipt by the power conditioning system 40 and/or transmission controlsystem 26, by further contemplated subsystems (e.g., a voltageregulator, a current regulator, switching systems, fault systems, safetyregulators, among other things).

Referring now to FIG. 3 , with continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 ,subcomponents and/or systems of the transmission control system 26 areillustrated. The transmission control system 26 may include a sensingsystem 50, a transmission controller 28, a communications system 29, adriver 48, and a memory 27.

The transmission controller 28 may be any electronic controller orcomputing system that includes, at least, a processor which performsoperations, executes control algorithms, stores data, retrieves data,gathers data, controls and/or provides communication with othercomponents and/or subsystems associated with the wireless transmissionsystem 20, and/or performs any other computing or controlling taskdesired. The transmission controller 28 may be a single controller ormay include more than one controller disposed to control variousfunctions and/or features of the wireless transmission system 20.Functionality of the transmission controller 28 may be implemented inhardware and/or software and may rely on one or more data maps relatingto the operation of the wireless transmission system 20. To that end,the transmission controller 28 may be operatively associated with thememory 27. The memory may include one or more of internal memory,external memory, and/or remote memory (e.g., a database and/or serveroperatively connected to the transmission controller 28 via a network,such as, but not limited to, the Internet). The internal memory and/orexternal memory may include, but are not limited to including, one ormore of a read only memory (ROM), including programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM orsometimes but rarely labelled EROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), random access memory (RAM), including dynamicRAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), singledata rate synchronous dynamic RAM (SDR SDRAM), double data ratesynchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4), and graphicsdouble data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (GDDR SDRAM, GDDR2, GDDR3,GDDR4, GDDR5, a flash memory, a portable memory, and the like. Suchmemory media are examples of nontransitory machine readable and/orcomputer readable memory media.

While particular elements of the transmission control system 26 areillustrated as independent components and/or circuits (e.g., the driver48, the memory 27, the communications system 29, the sensing system 50,among other contemplated elements) of the transmission control system26, such components may be integrated with the transmission controller28. In some examples, the transmission controller 28 may be anintegrated circuit configured to include functional elements of one orboth of the transmission controller 28 and the wireless transmissionsystem 20, generally.

Prior to providing data transmission and receipt details, it should benoted that either of the wireless transmission system 20 and thewireless receiver system 30 may send data to the other within thedisclosed principles, regardless of which entity is wirelessly sendingor wirelessly receiving power. As illustrated, the transmissioncontroller 28 is in operative association, for the purposes of datatransmission, receipt, and/or communication, with, at least, the memory27, the communications system 29, the power conditioning system 40, thedriver 48, and the sensing system 50. The driver 48 may be implementedto control, at least in part, the operation of the power conditioningsystem 40. In some examples, the driver 48 may receive instructions fromthe transmission controller 28 to generate and/or output a generatedpulse width modulation (PWM) signal to the power conditioning system 40.In some such examples, the PWM signal may be configured to drive thepower conditioning system 40 to output electrical power as analternating current signal, having an operating frequency defined by thePWM signal. In some examples, PWM signal may be configured to generate aduty cycle for the AC power signal output by the power conditioningsystem 40. In some such examples, the duty cycle may be configured to beabout 50% of a given period of the AC power signal.

The sensing system may include one or more sensors, wherein each sensormay be operatively associated with one or more components of thewireless transmission system 20 and configured to provide informationand/or data. The term “sensor” is used in its broadest interpretation todefine one or more components operatively associated with the wirelesstransmission system 20 that operate to sense functions, conditions,electrical characteristics, operations, and/or operating characteristicsof one or more of the wireless transmission system 20, the wirelessreceiving system 30, the input power source 12, the host device 11, thetransmission antenna 21, the receiver antenna 31, along with any othercomponents and/or subcomponents thereof. Again, while the examples mayillustrate a certain configuration, it should be appreciated that eitherof the wireless transmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system30 may send data to the other within the disclosed principles,regardless of which entity is wirelessly sending or wirelessly receivingpower.

As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the sensing system 50 mayinclude, but is not limited to including, a thermal sensing system 52,an object sensing system 54, a receiver sensing system 56, and/or anyother sensor(s) 58. Within these systems, there may exist even morespecific optional additional or alternative sensing systems addressingparticular sensing aspects required by an application, such as, but notlimited to: a condition-based maintenance sensing system, a performanceoptimization sensing system, a state-of-charge sensing system, atemperature management sensing system, a component heating sensingsystem, an IoT sensing system, an energy and/or power management sensingsystem, an impact detection sensing system, an electrical status sensingsystem, a speed detection sensing system, a device health sensingsystem, among others. The object sensing system 54, may be a foreignobject detection (FOD) system.

Each of the thermal sensing system 52, the object sensing system 54, thereceiver sensing system 56 and/or the other sensor(s) 58, including theoptional additional or alternative systems, are operatively and/orcommunicatively connected to the transmission controller 28. The thermalsensing system 52 is configured to monitor ambient and/or componenttemperatures within the wireless transmission system 20 or otherelements nearby the wireless transmission system 20. The thermal sensingsystem 52 may be configured to detect a temperature within the wirelesstransmission system 20 and, if the detected temperature exceeds athreshold temperature, the transmission controller 28 prevents thewireless transmission system 20 from operating. Such a thresholdtemperature may be configured for safety considerations, operationalconsiderations, efficiency considerations, and/or any combinationsthereof. In a non-limiting example, if, via input from the thermalsensing system 52, the transmission controller 28 determines that thetemperature within the wireless transmission system 20 has increasedfrom an acceptable operating temperature to an undesired operatingtemperature (e.g., in a non-limiting example, the internal temperatureincreasing from about 20° C. (C) to about 50° C., the transmissioncontroller 28 prevents the operation of the wireless transmission system20 and/or reduces levels of power output from the wireless transmissionsystem 20. In some non-limiting examples, the thermal sensing system 52may include one or more of a thermocouple, a thermistor, a negativetemperature coefficient (NTC) resistor, a resistance temperaturedetector (RTD), and/or any combinations thereof.

As depicted in FIG. 4 , the transmission sensing system 50 may includethe object sensing system 54. The object sensing system 54 may beconfigured to detect one or more of the wireless receiver system 30and/or the receiver antenna 31, thus indicating to the transmissioncontroller 28 that the receiver system 30 is proximate to the wirelesstransmission system 20. Additionally or alternatively, the objectsensing system 54 may be configured to detect presence of unwantedobjects in contact with or proximate to the wireless transmission system20. In some examples, the object sensing system 54 is configured todetect the presence of an undesired object. In some such examples, ifthe transmission controller 28, via information provided by the objectsensing system 54, detects the presence of an undesired object, then thetransmission controller 28 prevents or otherwise modifies operation ofthe wireless transmission system 20. In some examples, the objectsensing system 54 utilizes an impedance change detection scheme, inwhich the transmission controller 28 analyzes a change in electricalimpedance observed by the transmission antenna 20 against a known,acceptable electrical impedance value or range of electrical impedancevalues.

Additionally or alternatively, the object sensing system 54 may utilizea quality factor (Q) change detection scheme, in which the transmissioncontroller 28 analyzes a change from a known quality factor value orrange of quality factor values of the object being detected, such as thereceiver antenna 31. The “quality factor” or “Q” of an inductor can bedefined as (frequency (Hz)×inductance (H))/resistance (ohms), wherefrequency is the operational frequency of the circuit, inductance is theinductance output of the inductor and resistance is the combination ofthe radiative and reactive resistances that are internal to theinductor. “Quality factor,” as defined herein, is generally accepted asan index (figure of measure) that measures the efficiency of anapparatus like an antenna, a circuit, or a resonator. In some examples,the object sensing system 54 may include one or more of an opticalsensor, an electro-optical sensor, a Hall effect sensor, a proximitysensor, and/or any combinations thereof.

The receiver sensing system 56 is any sensor, circuit, and/orcombinations thereof configured to detect presence of any wirelessreceiving system that may be couplable with the wireless transmissionsystem 20. In some examples, the receiver sensing system 56 and theobject sensing system 54 may be combined, may share components, and/ormay be embodied by one or more common components. In some examples, ifthe presence of any such wireless receiving system is detected, wirelesstransmission of electrical energy, electrical power, electromagneticenergy, and/or data by the wireless transmission system 20 to saidwireless receiving system is enabled. In some examples, if the presenceof a wireless receiver system is not detected, continued wirelesstransmission of electrical energy, electrical power, electromagneticenergy, and/or data is prevented from occurring. Accordingly, thereceiver sensing system 56 may include one or more sensors and/or may beoperatively associated with one or more sensors that are configured toanalyze electrical characteristics within an environment of or proximateto the wireless transmission system 20 and, based on the electricalcharacteristics, determine presence of a wireless receiver system 30.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , and with continued reference to FIGS. 1-4 , ablock diagram illustrating an embodiment of the power conditioningsystem 40 is illustrated. At the power conditioning system 40,electrical power is received, generally, as a DC power source, via theinput power source 12 itself or an intervening power converter,converting an AC source to a DC source (not shown). A voltage regulator46 receives the electrical power from the input power source 12 and isconfigured to provide electrical power for transmission by the antenna21 and provide electrical power for powering components of the wirelesstransmission system 21. Accordingly, the voltage regulator 46 isconfigured to convert the received electrical power into at least twoelectrical power signals, each at a proper voltage for operation of therespective downstream components: a first electrical power signal toelectrically power any components of the wireless transmission system 20and a second portion conditioned and modified for wireless transmissionto the wireless receiver system 30. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , such afirst portion is transmitted to, at least, the sensing system 50, thetransmission controller 28, and the communications system 29; however,the first portion is not limited to transmission to just thesecomponents and can be transmitted to any electrical components of thewireless transmission system 20.

The second portion of the electrical power is provided to an amplifier42 of the power conditioning system 40, which is configured to conditionthe electrical power for wireless transmission by the antenna 21. Theamplifier may function as an inverter, which receives an input DC powersignal from the voltage regulator 46 and generates an AC as output,based, at least in part, on PWM input from the transmission controlsystem 26. The amplifier 42 may be or include, for example, a powerstage invertor, such as a dual field effect transistor power stageinvertor or a quadruple field effect transistor power stage invertor.The use of the amplifier 42 within the power conditioning system 40 and,in turn, the wireless transmission system 20 enables wirelesstransmission of electrical signals having much greater amplitudes thanif transmitted without such an amplifier. For example, the addition ofthe amplifier 42 may enable the wireless transmission system 20 totransmit electrical energy as an electrical power signal havingelectrical power from about 10 mW to about 500 W. In some examples, theamplifier 42 may be or may include one or more class-E power amplifiers.Class-E power amplifiers are efficiently tuned switching poweramplifiers designed for use at high frequencies (e.g., frequencies fromabout 1 MHz to about 1 GHz). Generally, a class-E amplifier employs asingle-pole switching element and a tuned reactive network between theswitch and an output load (e.g., the antenna 21). Class E amplifiers mayachieve high efficiency at high frequencies by only operating theswitching element at points of zero current (e.g., on-to-off switching)or zero voltage (off to on switching). Such switching characteristicsmay minimize power lost in the switch, even when the switching time ofthe device is long compared to the frequency of operation. However, theamplifier 42 is certainly not limited to being a class-E power amplifierand may be or may include one or more of a class D amplifier, a class EFamplifier, an H invertor amplifier, and/or a push-pull invertor, amongother amplifiers that could be included as part of the amplifier 42.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 and 7 , the wireless transmission system 20 isillustrated, further detailing elements of the power conditioning system40, the amplifier 42, the tuning system 24, among other things. Theblock diagram of the wireless transmission system 20 illustrates one ormore electrical signals and the conditioning of such signals, alteringof such signals, transforming of such signals, inverting of suchsignals, amplification of such signals, and combinations thereof. InFIG. 6 , DC power signals are illustrated with heavily bolded lines,such that the lines are significantly thicker than other solid lines inFIG. 6 and other figures of the instant application, AC signals areillustrated as substantially sinusoidal wave forms with a thicknesssignificantly less bolded than that of the DC power signal bolding, anddata signals are represented as dotted lines. It is to be noted that theAC signals are not necessarily substantially sinusoidal waves and may beany AC waveform suitable for the purposes described below (e.g., a halfsine wave, a square wave, a half square wave, among other waveforms).FIG. 7 illustrates sample electrical components for elements of thewireless transmission system, and subcomponents thereof, in a simplifiedform. Note that FIG. 7 may represent one branch or sub-section of aschematic for the wireless transmission system 20 and/or components ofthe wireless transmission system 20 may be omitted from the schematicillustrated in FIG. 7 for clarity.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and discussed above, the input power source 11provides an input direct current voltage (V_(DC)), which may have itsvoltage level altered by the voltage regulator 46, prior to conditioningat the amplifier 42. In some examples, as illustrated in FIG. 7 , theamplifier 42 may include a choke inductor L_(CHOKE), which may beutilized to block radio frequency interference in V_(DC), while allowingthe DC power signal of V_(DC) to continue towards an amplifiertransistor 48 of the amplifier 42. V_(CHOKE) may be configured as anysuitable choke inductor known in the art.

The amplifier 48 is configured to alter and/or invert V_(DC) to generatean AC wireless signal V_(AC), which, as discussed in more detail below,may be configured to carry one or both of an inbound and outbound datasignal (denoted as “Data” in FIG. 6 ). The amplifier transistor 48 maybe any switching transistor known in the art that is capable ofinverting, converting, and/or conditioning a DC power signal into an ACpower signal, such as, but not limited to, a field-effect transistor(FET), gallium nitride (GaN) FETS, bipolar junction transistor (BJT),and/or wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor transistor, among other knownswitching transistors. The amplifier transistor 48 is configured toreceive a driving signal (denoted as “PWM” in FIG. 6 ) from at a gate ofthe amplifier transistor 48 (denoted as “G” in FIG. 6 ) and invert theDC signal V_(DC) to generate the AC wireless signal at an operatingfrequency and/or an operating frequency band for the wireless powertransmission system 20. The driving signal may be a PWM signalconfigured for such inversion at the operating frequency and/oroperating frequency band for the wireless power transmission system 20.

The driving signal is generated and output by the transmission controlsystem 26 and/or the transmission controller 28 therein, as discussedand disclosed above. The transmission controller 26, 28 is configured toprovide the driving signal and configured to perform one or more ofencoding wireless data signals (denoted as “Data” in FIG. 6 ), decodingthe wireless data signals (denoted as “Data” in FIG. 6 ) and anycombinations thereof. In some examples, the electrical data signals maybe in band signals of the AC wireless power signal. In some suchexamples, such in-band signals may be on-off-keying (OOK) signalsin-band of the AC wireless power signals. For example, Type-Acommunications, as described in the NFC Standards, are a form of OOK,wherein the data signal is on-off-keyed in a carrier AC wireless powersignal operating at an operating frequency in a range of about 13.553MHz to about 13.567 MHz.

However, when the power, current, impedance, phase, and/or voltagelevels of an AC power signal are changed beyond the levels used incurrent and/or legacy hardware for high frequency wireless powertransfer (over about 500 mW transmitted), such legacy hardware may notbe able to properly encode and/or decode in-band data signals with therequired fidelity for communications functions. Such higher power in anAC output power signal may cause signal degradation due to increasingrise times for an OOK rise, increasing fall time for an OOK fall,overshooting the required voltage in an OOK rise, and/or undershootingthe voltage in an OOK fall, among other potential degradations to thesignal due to legacy hardware being ill equipped for higher power, highfrequency wireless power transfer. Thus, there is a need for theamplifier 42 to be designed in a way that limits and/or substantiallyremoves rise and fall times, overshoots, undershoots, and/or othersignal deficiencies from an in-band data signal during wireless powertransfer. This ability to limit and/or substantially remove suchdeficiencies allows for the systems of the instant application toprovide higher power wireless power transfer in high frequency wirelesspower transmission systems.

For further exemplary illustration, FIG. 8 illustrates a plot for a falland rise of an OOK in-band signal. The fall time (ti) is shown as thetime between when the signal is at 90% voltage (V₄) of the intended fullvoltage (V₁) and falls to about 5% voltage (V₂) of V₁. The rise time(t₃) is shown as the time between when the signal ends being at V₂ andrises to about V₄. Such rise and fall times may be read by a receivingantenna of the signal, and an applicable data communications protocolmay include limits on rise and fall times, such that data isnon-compliant and/or illegible by a receiver if rise and/or fall timesexceed certain bounds.

Returning now to FIGS. 6 and 7 , to achieve limitation and/orsubstantial removal of the mentioned deficiencies, the amplifier 42includes a damping circuit 60. The damping circuit 60 is configured fordamping the AC wireless signal during transmission of the AC wirelesssignal and associated data signals. The damping circuit 60 may beconfigured to reduce rise and fall times during OOK signal transmission,such that the rate of the data signals may not only be compliant and/orlegible, but may also achieve faster data rates and/or enhanced dataranges, when compared to legacy systems. For damping the AC wirelesspower signal, the damping circuit includes, at least, a dampingtransistor 63, which is configured for receiving a damping signal(V_(damp)) from the transmission controller 62. The damping signal isconfigured for switching the damping transistor (on/off) to controldamping of the AC wireless signal during the transmission and/or receiptof wireless data signals. Such transmission of the AC wireless signalsmay be performed by the transmission controller 28 and/or suchtransmission may be via transmission from the wireless receiver system30, within the coupled magnetic field between the antennas 21, 31.

In examples wherein the data signals are conveyed via OOK, the dampingsignal may be substantially opposite and/or an inverse to the state ofthe data signals. This means that if the OOK data signals are in an “on”state, the damping signals instruct the damping transistor to turn “off”and thus the signal is not dissipated via the damping circuit 60 becausethe damping circuit is not set to ground and, thus, a short from theamplifier circuit and the current substantially bypasses the dampingcircuit 60. If the OOK data signals are in an “off” state, then thedamping signals may be “on” and, thus, the damping transistor 63 is setto an “on” state and the current flowing of V_(AC) is damped by thedamping circuit. Thus, when “on,” the damping circuit 60 may beconfigured to dissipate just enough power, current, and/or voltage, suchthat efficiency in the system is not substantially affected and suchdissipation decreases rise and/or fall times in the OOK signal. Further,because the damping signal may instruct the damping transistor 63 toturn “off” when the OOK signal is “on,” then it will not unnecessarilydamp the signal, thus mitigating any efficiency losses from V_(AC), whendamping is not needed. While depicted as utilizing OOK coding, otherforms of in band coding may be utilized for coding the data signals,such as, but not limited to, amplitude shift keying (ASK).

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the branch of the amplifier 42 which mayinclude the damping circuit 60, is positioned at the output drain of theamplifier transistor 48. While it is not necessary that the dampingcircuit 60 be positioned here, in some examples, this may aid inproperly damping the output AC wireless signal, as it will be able todamp at the node closest to the amplifier transistor 48 output drain,which is the first node in the circuit wherein energy dissipation isdesired. In such examples, the damping circuit is in electrical parallelconnection with a drain of the amplifier transistor 48. However, it iscertainly possible that the damping circuit be connected proximate tothe antenna 21, proximate to the transmission tuning system 24, and/orproximate to a filter circuit 24.

While the damping circuit 60 is capable of functioning to properly dampthe AC wireless signal for proper communications at higher power highfrequency wireless power transmission, in some examples, the dampingcircuit may include additional components. For instance, as illustrated,the damping circuit 60 may include one or more of a damping diodeD_(DAMP), a damping resistor R_(DAMP), a damping capacitor C_(DAMP),and/or any combinations thereof. R_(DAMP) may be in electrical serieswith the damping transistor 63 and the value of R_(DAMP) (ohms) may beconfigured such that it dissipates at least some power from the powersignal, which may serve to accelerate rise and fall times in anamplitude shift keying signal, an OOK signal, and/or combinationsthereof. In some examples, the value of R_(DAMP) is selected,configured, and/or designed such that R_(DAMP) dissipates the minimumamount of power to achieve the fastest rise and/or fall times in anin-band signal allowable and/or satisfy standards limitations forminimum rise and/or fall times; thereby achieving data fidelity atmaximum efficiency (less power lost to R_(DAMP)) as well as maintainingdata fidelity when the system is unloaded and/or under lightest loadconditions.

C_(DAMP) may also be in series connection with one or both of thedamping transistor 63 and R_(DAMP). C_(DAMP) may be configured to smoothout transition points in an in-band signal and limit overshoot and/orundershoot conditions in such a signal. Further, in some examples,C_(DAMP) may be configured for ensuring the damping performed is 180degrees out of phase with the AC wireless power signal, when thetransistor is activated via the damping signal.

D_(DAMP) may further be included in series with one or more of thedamping transistor 63, R_(DAMP), C_(DAMP), and/or any combinationsthereof. D_(DAMP) is positioned, as shown, such that a current cannotflow out of the damping circuit 60, when the damping transistor 63 is inan off state. The inclusion of D_(DAMP) may prevent power efficiencyloss in the AC power signal when the damping circuit is not active or“on.” Indeed, while the damping transistor 63 is designed such that, inan ideal scenario, it serves to effectively short the damping circuitwhen in an “off” state, in practical terms, some current may still reachthe damping circuit and/or some current may possibly flow in theopposite direction out of the damping circuit 60. Thus, inclusion ofD_(DAMP) may prevent such scenarios and only allow current, power,and/or voltage to be dissipated towards the damping transistor 63. Thisconfiguration, including D_(DAMP), may be desirable when the dampingcircuit 60 is connected at the drain node of the amplifier transistor48, as the signal may be a half-wave sine wave voltage and, thus, thevoltage of V_(AC) is always positive.

Beyond the damping circuit 60, the amplifier 42, in some examples, mayinclude a shunt capacitor C_(SHUNT). C_(SHUNT) may be configured toshunt the AC power signal to ground and charge voltage of the AC powersignal. Thus, C_(SHUNT) may be configured to maintain an efficient andstable waveform for the AC power signal, such that a duty cycle of about50% is maintained and/or such that the shape of the AC power signal issubstantially sinusoidal at positive voltages.

In some examples, the amplifier 42 may include a filter circuit 65. Thefilter circuit 65 may be designed to mitigate and/or filter outelectromagnetic interference (EMI) within the wireless transmissionsystem 20. Design of the filter circuit 65 may be performed in view ofimpedance transfer and/or effects on the impedance transfer of thewireless power transmission 20 due to alterations in tuning made by thetransmission tuning system 24. To that end, the filter circuit 65 may beor include one or more of a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/ora band pass filter, among other filter circuits that are configured for,at least, mitigating EMI in a wireless power transmission system.

As illustrated, the filter circuit 65 may include a filter inductorL_(o) and a filter capacitor C_(o). The filter circuit 65 may have acomplex impedance and, thus, a resistance through the filter circuit 65may be defined as R_(o). In some such examples, the filter circuit 65may be designed and/or configured for optimization based on, at least, afilter quality factor γ_(FILTER), defined as:

$\gamma_{FILTER} = \frac{1}{R_{o}}\sqrt{\frac{L_{o}}{C_{o}}}$

In a filter circuit 65 wherein it includes or is embodied by a low passfilter, the cut-off frequency (ω_(o)) of the low pass filter is definedas:

$\omega_{o} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{L_{o}C_{o}}}$

In some wireless power transmission systems 20, it is desired that thecutoff frequency be about 1.03-1.4 times greater than the operatingfrequency of the antenna. Experimental results have determined that, ingeneral, a larger γ_(FILTER) may be preferred, because the largerγ_(FILTER) can improve voltage gain and improve system voltage rippleand timing. Thus, the above values for L₀ and C₀ may be set such thatγ_(FILTER) can be optimized to its highest, ideal level (e.g., when thesystem 10 impedance is conjugately matched for maximum power transfer),given cutoff frequency restraints and available components for thevalues of L₀ and C₀.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the conditioned signal(s) from the amplifier42 is then received by the transmission tuning system 24, prior totransmission by the antenna 21. The transmission tuning system 24 mayinclude tuning and/or impedance matching, filters (e.g. a low passfilter, a high pass filter, a “pi” or “Π” filter, a “T” filter, an “L”filter, a “LL” filter, and/or an L-C trap filter, among other filters),network matching, sensing, and/or conditioning elements configured tooptimize wireless transfer of signals from the wireless transmissionsystem 20 to the wireless receiver system 30. Further, the transmissiontuning system 24 may include an impedance matching circuit, which isdesigned to match impedance with a corresponding wireless receiversystem 30 for given power, current, and/or voltage requirements forwireless transmission of one or more of electrical energy, electricalpower, electromagnetic energy, and electronic data. The illustratedtransmission tuning system 24 includes, at least, C_(Z1), C_(Z2). and(operatively associated with the antenna 21) values, all of which may beconfigured for impedance matching in one or both of the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the broader system 10. It is noted thatC_(Tx) refers to the intrinsic capacitance of the antenna 21.

In some examples, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 , thewireless power transmission system 20 may further include a variableresistor 70 in electrical connection with the transmission antenna 21.The variable resistor 70 may be any electrical component that isconfigured to perform as a resistor with a variable or changeable value;examples of such variable resistors include, but are not limited toincluding, potentiometers, digital potentiometers, voltage dividers,among other known variable resistors. The variable resistor 70 isconfigured to alter the quality factor (Q_(Tx)) of the transmitterantenna 21, such that alterations in Q_(Tx) of the transmitter antenna21 by the variable resistor 70 will change an operating mode of thewireless power transmission system 20. “Operating mode,” as definedherein and discussed in more detail below, with reference to FIGS. 9-16, refers a set of magnitudes for data rate and power level of a wirelesspower transfer utilizing the wireless power transmission system 20, suchthat the magnitudes of the data rate and power level affect one another.In some examples, the variable resistor is a digital potentiometercapable of receiving instructions from the transmission controller 28and the transmission controller 28 provides said instructions to thevariable resistor 70 to alter Q_(Tx) to facilitate a desired operatingmode for the system.

As discussed above, “Quality Factor” or “Q” is generally accepted as anindex (figure of measure) that measures the efficiency of an apparatuslike an antenna, a circuit, or a resonator. While optimal efficiency maybe desired for maximum power transfer efficiency and/or a magnitude ofpower rate for power transfer via the transmission antenna 21, a high Qantenna may be disadvantageous for wireless data communications because,as discussed above, at a higher power level the rise and fall times ofan in band, amplitude shift keyed signal will naturally be longer and,thus, potentially contribute to signal distortion. Thus, as will bediscussed in more detail below, the wireless power transmission system20 may be configured with the variable resistor 70, such that Q_(Tx) canbe altered such that the transmission antenna 21 will operate in modesthat may prioritize power transfer level over data rate, modes that mayprioritize faster data rates over higher levels of power, and/or“neutral” or median modes that weigh the importance of power level anddata rate as substantially similar.

Q_(Tx), as defined herein, is based, at least, on the operatingfrequency or resonant frequency of the system (ω₀), inductance of thetransmission antenna (L_(Tx)), and the resistance or impedance of theantenna (R_(Tx)). Without factoring in the presence of the variableresistor 70, R_(Tx) may be defined as one or more radiative and reactiveresistances that are internal to the inductor such as, but not limitedto, an equivalent series resistance (ESR). Thus, prior to inclusion ofthe variable resistor, Q_(Tx) may be defined as:

$Q_{Tx} = \frac{\omega_{0}*L_{Tx}}{R_{ESR}}$

ESR, generally, refers to an estimated or measured resistance,associated with an electrical component, that may be present due tonatural resistances in materials that comprise the electrical componentand, thus, the origins of an ESR depend specifically on the device. Asan inductor, such as the transmission antenna 21, is ideally captured asa pure inductance with no ESR, this is not, generally, achievable in thephysical space and, thus, ESR may be modelled as a resistor in serieswith the inductor.

Therefore, if the variable resistor 70 is included in series with thetransmission antenna 21, Q_(Tx) may be variable by virtually alteringthe ESR of the transmission antenna 21 and, thus, selectively dampingQ_(Tx) for a given operating mode. To that end, introducing the variableresistance (R_(VAR)) of the variable resistor 70 to the system, thevariable Q_(Tx) of the system may be defined as

$Q_{Tx} = \frac{\omega_{0}*L_{Tx}}{R_{ESR} + R_{VAR}}$

Thus, R_(VAR) may vary between a minimum resistance (R_(VARmin))and amaximum resistance R_(VARmax). As the variable resistor is a physicalcomponent in physical space, it will also have a an ESR (R_(VAR_ESR)).Given that a maximum quality factor (Q_(TxMax)) for the transmissionantenna 21 would have the lowest possible series resistance, Q_(TxMax)may be defined as

$Q_{TxMax} = \frac{\omega_{0}*L_{Tx}}{R_{ESR} + \left( {R_{VAR\_ ESR} +} \right)}$

because R_(VAR_) _(ESR) is the ESR when the variable resistor 70 is setto its lowest value or null value. Alternatively, a lower quality factor(Q_(TxMin)) for the antenna 21 may be configured as the lowest Qpossible for the fastest available data rate for transmitting data inband of a wireless power signal, whether said wireless power signal iscapable of providing significant electrical energy to a receiver or ifsaid wireless power signal is only capable of providing enoughelectrical power for legible in-band data communications. In suchexamples,

$Q_{TxMin} = \frac{\omega_{0}\, \ast \, L_{Tx}}{R_{ESR} + \left( {R_{VAR\_ ESR} + R_{VARmax}} \right)}$

wherein R_(VARmax) is the maximum value for setting the variableresistor 70, such that data communications are optimized for high datarate.

By utilizing the variable resistor 70, the transmission controller 28may have a simple and robust mechanism for setting that transmissionantenna 21 to a proper Q_(Tx), to facilitate the desired operating modefor the wireless transmission system 20. To that end, while this is onemechanism for altering the operating modes, which are discussed andfurther defined below, the wireless transmission system 20 and/or thetransmission controller 28 are not limited to using the variableresistor 70 to set the operating modes for the wireless transmissionsystem 20.

FIG. 9 is an example flowchart for a method 100 of operating thewireless power transfer system 10 and/or for operating the wirelesspower transmission system 20. The method may begin or may be initiatedat or by block 110, wherein the wireless receiver system 30 providesinstructions to the wireless transmission system 20. The instructionsmay be communicated in band of the wireless power signal and/or themagnetic field emanating between the antennas 21, 31 and theinstructions may be an indication that the wireless receiver system 30requests wireless power transfer from the wireless transmission system20. Said instructions of block 110 may either be monitored for, by thetransmission controller 28, as a loop control, or may be triggered bythe wireless receiver system 30, when it is excited by a signal outputby the wireless transmission system 20.

Operations of the transmission controller 28 begin at block 120, whereinthe transmission controller receives and/or decodes the instructionsfrom the wireless receiver system 30. Then, the method 100 includesselecting and/or determining an operating mode for the wireless powerand data transmission (block 130), wherein meaningful wireless power istransferred from the wireless transmission system 20 to the wirelessreceiver system 30 and data transmission may occur in one direction orbi-directionally, as discussed in more detail below. The operating modemay be selected from a plurality of transmission modes, which include atleast two transmission modes.

Referring now to FIG. 10 , and with continued reference to FIG. 9 , FIG.10 is a block diagram for a a sub-method 130A of selectingdeterminingthe operating mode for operations of the system 10. The sub-method 130Abegins at the decision 132, wherein the transmission controller 28determines whether the system 10 should prioritize the wirelesstransmission of power or the wireless transmission of data. As discussedabove, higher power levels may increase the rise and fall times ofwireless data signals and/or may be more susceptible to distortion inthe data signal due to such increases in rise and fall times. Thus, ahigher power signal may be more susceptible to distortion and/or may notpass regulatory standards for communications fidelity, when compared toa lower power signal. To that end, it may be achievable to have fasterdata communications speeds at lower power levels, while clearcommunications can still be achieved at the higher power levels, butwith a reduced data rate for the communications speed in the higherpower signal.

“Data rate” as defined herein, refers to a speed at which bits of a datasignal are transferred over a transfer medium. The transfer medium, forour example, is the wireless connection between the antennas 21, 31.Data rates may be measured in magnitudes of bit rate, such as bits persecond (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), megabits per second (Mbps),gigabits per second (Gbps), among other magnitudes of bit rate. For thepurposes of our discussion, data rates are referenced with kbpsmagnitude values; however, bit rates utilized with the contents of thisdisclosure are certainly not limited to bit rates in the kbps magnituderange. “Power level,” as defined herein, refers to the rate at whichpower is transferred over the transfer medium. Power levels aregenerally referenced on the scale of Watts, which may be defined as P =I²*V, wherein P is the power level of a signal, I is the current of asignal, and V is the voltage of a signal. As represented graphicallyand/or for reference, a power level may be illustrated as the magnitudeof the current and/or voltage (or changes thereof). As will bereferenced in description of FIG. 12 , a peak voltage magnitude may berepresentative of changes in power level, for a signal.

Returning now to FIG. 10 and decision 132, the transmission controller132 will determine whether to prioritize power or to prioritize dataand, based on the decision, will select the operating mode for thesystem 10 from a plurality of operating modes. Each of the plurality ofoperating modes has a data rate for wireless data signals and a powerlevel for the wireless power signals. The plurality of operating modesincludes at least one power priority operating mode and at least onedata priority operating mode. Each of the at least one power priorityoperating modes has a power level that is greater than the power levelof each of the at least one data priority operating modes. Each of theat least one data priority operating modes has a data rate that isgreater than the data rate of each of the power priority operatingmodes. If the transmission controller 28 decides that power level is tobe prioritized, then the sub-method 130A proceeds to block 134, whereinone of the at least one power priority modes is selected for operationsof the system 10. Alternatively, if the transmission controller 28decides that data rate is to be prioritized, then the sub-method 130Aproceeds to block 136, wherein one of the at least one data prioritymodes is selected for operations of the system 10.

In another embodiment for a sub-method 130B for the step of determiningthe operating mode for the system 10, FIG. 11 illustrates the sub-method130B, wherein operating conditions of the system 10 are utilized indeciding an operating mode from a plurality of “N” number of operatingmodes (operating modes A, B, ..., N). In such an example, thetransmission controller 28 may receive or derive an operating conditionof the system 10 and decide which of the operating modes A-N to select,for operation of the system 10, as illustrated in block 131. In someexamples, the operations of block 131 may be based, at least in part, onreceiver based information provided by the receiver system 30, asillustrated in the sub-block 112 of block 110. “Receiver basedinformation” or “receiver operating condition,” as defined herein, mayrefer to any information associated with the wireless receiver system 30and/or operations thereof. Such receiver based information or receiveroperating conditions may include, but is not limited to including, adesired power level for powering or charging the load 16, a charge levelof the load 16, a maximum power level that the receiver system 30 iscapable of receiving, an operating frequency of the receiver system 30,system software or firmware information, status of software or firmwarerecency, among other information associated with the wireless receiversystem 30. “Operating conditions” of the system 10, as defined herein,are any operating characteristics of a current or prospective wirelesstransfer of one or both of data and power, between the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30. Suchoperating conditions may include, but are not limited to includingcoupling between the antennas 21, 31, two or three dimensionaldisplacement between the antennas 21, 31, an operating frequency fortransfer of wireless power and/or wireless data between the antennas 21,31, power transfer constraints between the wireless transmission system20 and the wireless receiver system 30, among other operating conditionsassociated with the system 10.

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 11 , the sub-method 130B may continue toselect the operating mode from the plurality of operating modes A-Nbased, at least in part, on the received or derived operating conditionof block 131, as illustrated in block 133.

FIG. 12 illustrates identical data signals output by three exampleoperating modes A, B, and C of a plurality of operating modes, which maybe utilized with the method 100 of FIGS. 9-11 . As illustrated, each ofthe signals of the plots of the identical data signals in operatingmodes A, B, and C represent an on-off-keyed and/or amplitude-shift-keyedtransmission of four bits of binary data, “1010.” However, each of theoperating modes A, B, and C have different power levels and differentdata rates. As illustrated, on the time scale, operating mode A has agreater data rate than operating mode C and the data rate of operatingmode B is less than the data rate of operating mode A, but greater thanthe data rate of operating mode C. As illustrated, as a function of thepeak voltage “V” of each of the signals, operating mode C has a powerlevel greater than the power level of operating mode A and the powerlevel of operating mode B is less than the power level of operating modeC, but greater than the power level of operating mode A. As such,operating mode A may be a “data priority” operating mode, operating modeC may be a “power priority” operating mode, while operating mode B mayfavor either power or data and, alternatively, may be a median operatingmode, giving substantially equal priority to wireless power and wirelessdata.

In some examples, the power level for operating mode A may be selectedfrom a range of about 0.5 Watts (W) to about 1.5 W and the data rate foroperating mode A may be selected from a range of about 700 Kbps to about1000 Kbps. In some such examples, the power level for operating mode Cmay be selected from a range of about 3.5 W to about 6.5 W and the datarate for operating mode C may be selected from a range of about 80 Kbpsto about 120 Kbps. In some further examples, the power level foroperating mode B may be selected from a range of about 1.5 W to about3.5 W and the data rate for operating mode B may be selected from arange of about 120 Kbps to about 700 Kbps. The example magnitudes ofthis paragraph are exemplary for illustrating a use case and are notintended to be limiting; accordingly, such magnitudes of each value maybe any magnitude higher or lower than the discussed values, such thatthe data rate of operating mode A is greater than the data rate ofoperating mode B, which is greater than the data rate of operating modeC, and the power level of operating mode C is greater than the powerlevel of operating mode B, which is greater than the power level ofoperating mode A.

FIG. 13 is another alternative sub-method 130C for implementing block130 of FIG. 9 . Operation of the sub-method 130C begin at block 127where a selected power level is either received by or derived by thetransmission controller 28. In some examples, the operations of block127 may be based, at least in part, on receiver based informationprovided by the receiver system 30, as illustrated in the sub-block 112of block 110. “Receiver based information” or “receiver operatingcondition,” as defined herein, may refer to any information associatedwith the wireless receiver system 30 and/or operations thereof. Suchreceiver based information or receiver operating conditions may include,but is not limited to including, a desired power level for powering orcharging the load 16, a charge level of the load 16, a maximum powerlevel that the receiver system 30 is capable of receiving, an operatingfrequency of the receiver system 30, system software or firmwareinformation, status of software or firmware recency, among otherinformation associated with the wireless receiver system 30. “Operatingconditions” of the system 10, as defined herein, are any operatingcharacteristics of a current or prospective wireless transfer of one orboth of data and power, between the wireless transmission system 20 andthe wireless receiver system 30. Such operating conditions may include,but are not limited to including coupling between the antennas 21, 31,two or three dimensional displacement between the antennas 21, 31, anoperating frequency for transfer of wireless power and/or wireless databetween the antennas 21, 31, power transfer constraints between thewireless transmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30,among other operating conditions associated with the system 10.

Additionally or alternatively, the receipt or derivation of the powerlevel at block 127 may be based on any external input to thetransmission controller 28, as illustrated by block 114. To that end,“external” refers to any information provided to the transmissioncontroller 28 that is not pre-defined by the transmission controllerand/or any memory or components thereof. Such external information mayinclude, but is not limited to including, data or feed back from otherelements of the wireless transmission system 20 (e.g., the sensingsystem 50, feedback from the power conditioning system 40, dataassociated with the antenna 21, among other component data), may beinformation input to the wireless transmission system 20 from anexternal data source, such as input via an associated host device of thewireless transmission system 20, and/or any other information notpre-defined within the transmission controller 28 or any firmwarethereof.

Using the selected power level, the sub-method 130C may continue todetermine the power level for the operating mode based on the selectedpower level, wherein the selected power level corresponds with acorresponding member of the series of power levels known by thetransmission controller 28, as illustrated in block 129. Then, thetransmission controller 28 may reference the inversely related series ofavailable data rates and determine the corresponding data rate thatcorresponds with the selected member of the series of power levels, asillustrated in block 135. Then, the transmission controller 28 maydefine or select the data rate for the operating mode by defining thedata rate for the operating mode as the corresponding data rate of theselected power level.

In an alternative sub-method 130D, as illustrated in FIG. 14 , aselected data rate is either received by or derived by the transmissioncontroller 28. In some examples, the operations of block 142 may bebased, at least in part, on receiver based information provided by thereceiver system 30, as illustrated in the sub-block 112 of block 110.Additionally or alternatively, the receipt or derivation of the datarate at block 132 may be based on any external input to the transmissioncontroller 28, as illustrated by block 114. Using the selected datarate, the sub-method 130D may continue to determine the data rate forthe operating mode based on the selected data rate, wherein the selecteddata rate corresponds with a corresponding member of the series of datarates known by the transmission controller 28, as illustrated in block144. Then, the transmission controller 28 may reference the inverselyrelated series of available power levels and determine the correspondingpower level that corresponds with the selected member of the series ofdata rates, as illustrated in block 136. Then, the transmissioncontroller 28 may define or select the power level for the operatingmode by defining the power level for the operating mode as thecorresponding power level of the selected power data rate.

The inverse relationship between the series of available power levelsand the correlated series of data rates may take functional form as anyrelationship, plot, derivation, or look up table (LUT) that provides thetransmission controller 28 with correlated data. For example, asillustrated in FIGS. 15A, 15B, the aforementioned inverse relationshipmay be a functional representation, such that the inverse relationshipmay be best understood by a graphical plot, for the purposes ofexplanation. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15A, the series ofavailable power levels and series of available data rates may have asubstantially linear inverse relationship, with respect to one another.Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 15B, the series of available powerlevels and series of available data rates may have a curved, ornon-linear inverse relationship, with respect to one another. However,it is to be noted that the plots of FIGS. 15A, 15B are merely for thepurposes of example and any linear or curved shape, based onmathematical derivation and/or derivation from experimental results, maybe suitable for representation of said inverse relationship.

FIG. 15C is a visual representation of a look up table (LUT) for thecorrelated pairs of the series of available power levels and the seriesof available data rates. As illustrated, each of the series of availablepower levels (P₀, ..., P_(N)) is greater than the prior sequentialmember of the series of available power levels. Each of the series ofavailable power levels is correlated with a member of the series ofavailable data levels (D₀, ..., D_(N)), such that P₀ is correlated withD₀, P₁ is correlated with D₁, ..., and P_(N) is correlated with D_(N).Data for the LUT may be based on a mathematical derivation for theinverse relationship and/or data for the LUT may be based on derivationor direct data from experimental results. Thus, the transmissioncontroller 28 may reference the LUT, when determining the operating modefor the system 10.

Returning now to FIG. 9 , the method continues to block 140, wherein thetransmission controller 140 generates and/or provides driving signalsbased on, at least, the operating mode determined at block 130, theoperating frequency for the system 10, and any data desired for transferfrom the transmission system 20, to the receiver system 30. The method100 may continually loop from block 140 to block 120, as thetransmission controller 120 may be configured to continually monitorinstructions that can affect the operating mode, either based oninternal conditions of the transmission system 20 and/or instructions orinformation provided by the wireless receiver system 30. Then, theamplifier 42 receives the driving signals and drives the transmissionantenna 21 based, at least in part, on the driving signals, asillustrated in block 150.

Turning now to FIG. 16 and with continued reference to, at least, FIGS.1 and 2 , the wireless receiver system 30 is illustrated in furtherdetail. The wireless receiver system 30 is configured to receive, atleast, electrical energy, electrical power, electromagnetic energy,and/or electrically transmittable data via near field magnetic couplingfrom the wireless transmission system 20, via the transmission antenna21. As illustrated in FIG. 9 , the wireless receiver system 30 includes,at least, the receiver antenna 31, a receiver tuning and filteringsystem 34, a power conditioning system 32 and a receiver control system36. The receiver tuning and filtering system 34 may be configured tosubstantially match the electrical impedance of the wirelesstransmission system 20. In some examples, the receiver tuning andfiltering system 34 may be configured to dynamically adjust andsubstantially match the electrical impedance of the receiver antenna 31to a characteristic impedance of the power generator or the load at adriving frequency of the transmission antenna 20.

As illustrated, the power conditioning system 32 includes a rectifier 33and a voltage regulator 35. In some examples, the rectifier 33 is inelectrical connection with the receiver tuning and filtering system 34.The rectifier 33 is configured to modify the received electrical energyfrom an alternating current electrical energy signal to a direct currentelectrical energy signal. In some examples, the rectifier 33 iscomprised of at least one diode. Some non-limiting exampleconfigurations for the rectifier 33 include, but are not limited toincluding, a full wave rectifier, including a center tapped full waverectifier and a full wave rectifier with filter, a half wave rectifier,including a half wave rectifier with filter, a bridge rectifier,including a bridge rectifier with filter, a split supply rectifier, asingle phase rectifier, a three phase rectifier, a voltage doubler, asynchronous voltage rectifier, a controlled rectifier, an uncontrolledrectifier, and a half controlled rectifier. As electronic devices may besensitive to voltage, additional protection of the electronic device maybe provided by clipper circuits or devices. In this respect, therectifier 33 may further include a clipper circuit or a clipper device,which is a circuit or device that removes either the positive half (tophalf), the negative half (bottom half), or both the positive and thenegative halves of an input AC signal. In other words, a clipper is acircuit or device that limits the positive amplitude, the negativeamplitude, or both the positive and the negative amplitudes of the inputAC signal.

Some non-limiting examples of a voltage regulator 35 include, but arenot limited to, including a series linear voltage regulator, a buckconvertor, a low dropout (LDO) regulator, a shunt linear voltageregulator, a step up switching voltage regulator, a step down switchingvoltage regulator, an inverter voltage regulator, a Zener controlledtransistor series voltage regulator, a charge pump regulator, and anemitter follower voltage regulator. The voltage regulator 35 may furtherinclude a voltage multiplier, which is as an electronic circuit ordevice that delivers an output voltage having an amplitude (peak value)that is two, three, or more times greater than the amplitude (peakvalue) of the input voltage. The voltage regulator 35 is in electricalconnection with the rectifier 33 and configured to adjust the amplitudeof the electrical voltage of the wirelessly received electrical energysignal, after conversion to AC by the rectifier 33. In some examples,the voltage regulator 35 may an LDO linear voltage regulator; however,other voltage regulation circuits and/or systems are contemplated. Asillustrated, the direct current electrical energy signal output by thevoltage regulator 35 is received at the load 16 of the electronic device14. In some examples, a portion of the direct current electrical powersignal may be utilized to power the receiver control system 36 and anycomponents thereof; however, it is certainly possible that the receivercontrol system 36, and any components thereof, may be powered and/orreceive signals from the load 16 (e.g., when the load 16 is a batteryand/or other power source) and/or other components of the electronicdevice 14.

The receiver control system 36 may include, but is not limited toincluding, a receiver controller 38, a communications system 39 and amemory 37. The receiver controller 38 may be any electronic controlleror computing system that includes, at least, a processor which performsoperations, executes control algorithms, stores data, retrieves data,gathers data, controls and/or provides communication with othercomponents and/or subsystems associated with the wireless receiversystem 30. The receiver controller 38 may be a single controller or mayinclude more than one controller disposed to control various functionsand/or features of the wireless receiver system 30. Functionality of thereceiver controller 38 may be implemented in hardware and/or softwareand may rely on one or more data maps relating to the operation of thewireless receiver system 30. To that end, the receiver controller 38 maybe operatively associated with the memory 37. The memory may include oneor both of internal memory, external memory, and/or remote memory (e.g.,a database and/or server operatively connected to the receivercontroller 38 via a network, such as, but not limited to, the Internet).The internal memory and/or external memory may include, but are notlimited to including, one or more of a read only memory (ROM), includingprogrammable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or sometimes but rarely labelled EROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), random access memory(RAM), including dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), synchronousdynamic RAM (SDRAM), single data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRSDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3,DDR4), and graphics double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (GDDRSDRAM, GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4, GDDR5, a flash memory, a portable memory,and the like. Such memory media are examples of nontransitory computerreadable memory media.

Further, while particular elements of the receiver control system 36 areillustrated as subcomponents and/or circuits (e.g., the memory 37, thecommunications system 39, among other contemplated elements) of thereceiver control system 36, such components may be external of thereceiver controller 38. In some examples, the receiver controller 38 maybe and/or include one or more integrated circuits configured to includefunctional elements of one or both of the receiver controller 38 and thewireless receiver system 30, generally. As used herein, the term“integrated circuits” generally refers to a circuit in which all or someof the circuit elements are inseparably associated and electricallyinterconnected so that it is considered to be indivisible for thepurposes of construction and commerce. Such integrated circuits mayinclude, but are not limited to including, thin-film transistors,thick-film technologies, and/or hybrid integrated circuits.

In some examples, the receiver controller 38 may be a dedicated circuitconfigured to send and receive data at a given operating frequency. Forexample, the receiver controller 38 may be a tagging or identifierintegrated circuit, such as, but not limited to, an NFC tag and/orlabelling integrated circuit. Examples of such NFC tags and/or labellingintegrated circuits include the NTAG® family of integrated circuitsmanufactured by NXP Semiconductors N.V. However, the communicationssystem 39 is certainly not limited to these example components and, insome examples, the communications system 39 may be implemented withanother integrated circuit (e.g., integrated with the receivercontroller 38), and/or may be another transceiver of or operativelyassociated with one or both of the electronic device 14 and the wirelessreceiver system 30, among other contemplated communication systemsand/or apparatus. Further, in some examples, functions of thecommunications system 39 may be integrated with the receiver controller38, such that the controller modifies the inductive field between theantennas 21, 31 to communicate in the frequency band of wireless powertransfer operating frequency.

Turning to FIG. 17 , this figure is a schematic functional plot ofphysically, electrically connected (e.g., wire connected) two-way datacommunications components, otherwise known as transceivers, which areoverlaid with example communications. The communications between suchtwo-way wired data communication components may include, but are notlimited to including, data communications and/or connections compliantwith a serial and/or universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART)based protocol; however, such two-way wired data communications, and/orany simulations thereof, are certainly not limited to UART basedprotocol data communications and/or connections.

UART provides a wired serial connection that utilizes serial datacommunications over a wired (human-tangible, physical electrical)connection between UART transceivers, which may take the form of atwo-wire connection. UART transceivers transmit data over the wiredconnection asynchronously, i.e., with no synchronizing clock. Atransmitting UART transceiver (e.g., a first UART transceiver 41, asillustrated) packetizes the data to be sent and adds start and stop bitsto the data packet, defining, respectively, the beginning and end of thedata packet for the receiving UART transceiver (e.g., a second UARTtransceiver 44). In turn, upon detecting a start bit, the receiving UARTtransceiver 44 reads the incoming bits at a common frequency, such as anagreed baud rate. This agreed baud rate is what allows UARTcommunications to succeed in the absence of a synchronizing clocksignal.

In the illustrated example, the first UART transceiver 41 may transmit amulti-bit data sequence (such as is shown in the data diagrams of FIG.11 ) to the second UART transceiver 44, via UART communication, andlikewise, the second UART transceiver 44 may transmit a multi-bit dataelement to the first UART transceiver 41. For instance, a UART-encodedsignal representing a multi-bit data element may be transmitted over atwo-wire connection 45 between the first UART transceiver 41 and thesecond UART transceiver 44. As shown in the illustrated example, a firstwire 46 of the two-wire connection 45 may be used for communication inone direction while a second wire 47 of the two-wire connection 45 maybe used for communication in the other direction.

FIG. 18 is a timing diagram showing packetized communications of amulti-bit data element over a standard wired UART connection, such asthat shown in FIG. 10 . In the illustrated example, the first multi-bitdata element, for transmission from the first UART transceiver 41 to thesecond UART transceiver 44, is a first 4-bit number B₀B₁B₂B₃. As can beseen, this number is serialized as a single bit stream for transmissionand subsequent receipt over the UART connection. The top data stream1011 shows an example of the serial data stream as output from the firstUART transceiver 41, while the second data stream 1013 shows the datastream 1011 as it is then received over the UART connection attransceiver 44. Similarly, the data streams 1015 and 1017 represent thetransmission by the second UART transceiver 44 of a second 4-bit numberB₄B₅B₆B₇ and receipt by the first UART transceiver 41 of that data.

While wired, two-wire, simultaneous two-way communications are a regularmeans of communication between two devices, it is desired to eliminatethe need for such wired connections, while simulating and/orsubstantially replicating the data transmissions that are achieved todayvia wired two-way communications, such as, but not limited to serialwired communications that are compliant with UART and/or other datatransmission protocols. To that end, FIGS. 19-23 illustrate systems,methods, and/or protocol components utilized to to carry out such serialtwo-way communications wirelessly via the wireless power transfer system10.

Turning to FIG. 16 , this figure shows a set of a vertically-registeredsignal timing diagrams associated with a wireless exchange of data andassociated communications over a wireless connection, as a function oftime, in accordance with the present disclosure. For example, thewireless connection herein may be the magnetic coupling of thetransmitter antenna 21 and the receiver antenna 31 of, respectively, thewireless transmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30,discussed above. In this situation, the wireless exchange of data occursbetween the wireless transmission system 20 and the wireless receiversystem 30. It should be noted that data transferred over the wirelessconnection may be generated, encoded, and/or otherwise provided by oneor both of the transmission controller 28 and the receiver controller38. Such data may be any data, such as, but not limited to, dataassociated with the wireless transmission of electrical energy, dataassociated with a host device associated with one of the wirelesstransmission system 20 or the wireless receiver system 30, orcombinations thereof. While illustrated in FIG. 12 , along with theproceeding drawings, as a transfer of data from the wirelesstransmission system 20 to the wireless receiver system 30, as mentioned,the simulated serial communications between the systems 20, 30 may bebidirectional (i.e., two-way), such that both systems 20, 30 are capableof transmission, receipt, encoding, decoding, other bi-directionalcommunications functions, or combinations thereof.

The originating data signal 1201 is an example UART input to thewireless transmission system 20, e.g., as a UART data input to thewireless transmission system 20 and/or the transmission controller 28and/or as a UART data input to the wireless receiver system 30 and/orthe receiver controller 38. While the figure shows the data originatingat and transmitted by the wireless transmission system 20/transmissioncontroller 28, the transmission controller 28 and/or the receivercontroller 38 may communicate data within the power signal by modulatingthe inductive field between the antennas 21, 31 to communicate in thefrequency band of the wireless power transfer operating frequency.

The wireless serial data signal 1203 in FIG. 19 shows a resultant datastream conveying the data of the originating data signal 1201 as anencapsulated transmission. The acknowledgment signal 1205, shown in FIG.19 , represents a transmission-encapsulated acknowledgment (ACK) ornon-acknowledgement (NACK) signal, communicated over the near fieldmagnetic connection, by the receiver controller 38, upon acknowledgmentor non-acknowledgement of receipt of the wireless serial data signal1203, by the receiver controller 38.

Turning to the specific contents of each signal in FIG. 19 , theoriginating data signal 1201 includes an n-byte data element 1207comprised of bytes T_(x0)... T_(xn-1), T_(xn). In the wireless serialdata signal 1203, the data stream may include a command header 1209 anda checksum 1211, in accordance with the particular transmission protocolin use in the example, “n” indicates any number of bytes for dataelements, defined herein. For example, the command header 1209 mayinclude a Control Byte (“CB”), Write command (“Wr CMD”) and Length code(“Length”). The Control Byte contains, for example, information requiredto control data transmission of blocks. The Write command may includeinformation specifying that encapsulated data is to be written at thereceiving end. The Length code may include information indicating thelength of the n-byte data element 1207. The checksum 1211 may be a datumused for the purpose of detecting errors and may be determined by orgenerated from a checksum algorithm. The ACK signal 1213 from thereceiver is similarly encapsulated between a CB 1215 and a checksum1217.

FIG. 20 is a timing diagram showing receiver and transmitter timingfunctions in accordance with the present disclosure. For example, thereceiver timing functions may be the timing of data transmission/receiptat the receiver controller 38 and the transmitter timing functions maybe the timing of data transmission/receipt at the transmissioncontroller 28. In this example, the receiver and transmitter timingutilizes a slotted protocol, wherein certain slots of time are availablefor data transmission, as in-band data communications of the wirelesspower signal between the transmission antenna 21 and the receiverantenna 31. Utilizing such timing and/or protocol may provide forvirtually simultaneous data transfer between the transmission controller28 and the receiver controller 38, as both the transmission controller28 and the receiver controller 38 may be capable of altering anamplitude (voltage/current) of the magnetic field between the antennas21, 31. “Virtually simultaneous data transfer” refers to data transferwhich may not be actually simultaneous, but performed at a speed andwith such regular switching of active transmitter of data (e.g., thewireless transmission system 20 or the wireless receiver system 30),such that the communications provide a user experience comparable toactual simultaneous data transfer.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first line 1301 shows an incomingstream of bytes B₀, B₁, B₂, B₃, to the transmission controller 28. Ifthe transmission controller 28 is configured to transmit data in timeslots, then the incoming bytes are slightly delayed and placed intosequential slots as they become available. In other words, data thatarrives during a certain time slot (or has any portion arriving duringthat time slot) will be placed into a subsequent time slot fortransmission. This is shown in the second line 1303, which shows data tobe transmitted over the wireless link, e.g., a wireless power and dataconnection. As can be seen, the analog of each byte is sent in thesubsequent slot after the data arrives at the transmission controller28, from, for example, a data source associated with the wirelesstransmission system 20. Further, a third line 1305 shows an incomingstream of bytes B₅, B₆, B₇, B₈, to the receiver controller 38. If thereceiver controller 38 is configured to transmit data in time slots,then the incoming bytes are slightly delayed and placed into sequentialslots as they become available. In other words, data that arrives duringa certain time slot (or has any portion arriving during that time slot)will be placed into a subsequent time slot for transmission. This isshown in the fourth line 1307, which shows data to be transmitted overthe wireless link, e.g., a wireless power and data link. As can be seen,the analog of each byte is sent in the subsequent slot after the dataarrives at the receiver controller 38 from, for example, a data sourceassociated with the wireless receiver system 30.

In a buffered system, communications can be held in one or more buffersuntil the subsequent processing element is ready for communications. Tothat end, if one side is attempting to pass a large amount of data butthe other side has no need to send data, communications can beaccelerated since they can be sent “one way” over the virtual “wire”created by the inductive connection. Therefore, while suchelectromagnetic communications are not literally “two-way”communications utilizing two wires, virtual two-way UART communicationsare executable over the single inductive connection between thetransmitter and receiver.

To that end, as illustrated in FIG. 21 , two-way communications may beachieved by windowing a period of time, within which each of thewireless transmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30encode their data into the power signal/magnetic field emanating betweenthe antennas 21, 31. FIG. 21A shows a timing diagram, wherein data 320,330 at the systems 20, 30, respectively, are prepared for transmissionand subsequently encoded into the signal during respective transmissioncommunication windows 321 and receiver communication windows 331. Asillustrated, the systems 20, 30 and/or controllers 28, 38 may beconfigured to store, transmit, and encode data 320, 330 into theresultant signal emanating between the antennas 21, 31. Such controllers28, 38 may be configured to encode said data 320, 330 within the windows321, 331, within a given and known (by both controllers 28, 38) periodof time (T). As such, the time scale in FIG. 21 is labelled withrecurring periods for the time, as indicated by the vertical dottedlines. Further, while the windows 321, 331 are illustrated as consumingentire periods T of the signal, the windows 321, 331 do not necessarilyconsume an entire period T and may be configured as a fraction of theperiod T, but recurring and beginning at intervals of the period T.

Each of the transmission controller 28 and the receiver controller 38may be configured to transmit a stream of the data 320A-N, 330A-N,respectively, to the other controller 28, 38, in a sequential manner andwithin the respective windows 321, 331. The period T and/or the windows321, 331 may be of any time length suitable for the data communicationsoperation used. However, it may be beneficial to have short periods andwindows, such that the switching of senders (controllers 28, 38) is notperceptible by the user of the system. Thus, to achieve high data rateswith short windows and periods, the power signal may be of a highoperating frequency (e.g., in a range of about 1 MHz to about 20 MHz).To that end, the data rates utilized may be up to or exceeding about 1megabit per second (Mbps) and, thus, small periods and windows thereinare achievable.

Further, while the windows in FIG. 21A are illustrated as relativelyequal, such window sizes may not be equal. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 21B, the length of the windows 321, 331 may dynamically alterbased on, for example, the desired data operations needed. Thus, thelength of the windows 321, 331 within each slot may lengthen or shrink,with respect to one another, based on operating conditions. For example,as illustrated at windows 321B, 331B, the transmission communicationswindow 321B may be significantly larger than the receiver communicationswindow 331B. Such a configuration may be advantageous when thetransmission system 20 desires to send a large amount of data (e.g., afirmware update, new software for the electronic device 14, among othersoftware and/or firmware), while the receiver system 30 only needs totransmit regular wireless power related information.

Conversely, in some examples, such as those of illustrated by windows321C, 331C, the receiver system 30 may need to send much more data thanthe transmission system 20 and, thus, the windows 321C, 331C aredynamically altered such that the receiver communications window 331C islarger, with respect to the transmission communications window. Such aconfiguration may be advantageous when the receiver system desires tosend a large amount of data to the transmission system 20 and/or adevice associated therewith. Example situations wherein this scenariomay exist include, but are not limited to including, download of devicedata from the wireless receiver system 30 to a device associated withthe wireless transmission system 20.

In an example exemplified by the windows 321D, 331D, the transmissioncommunications window 321D may be so much larger than the receivercommunications window 331D, such that the receiver communications window331D, virtually, does not exist. Thus, this may put the transmissionssystem 20 in a virtual one-way data transfer, wherein the only datatransmitted back to the transmission system 20 is a simple ACK signal1213 and, in some examples, associated data such as the CB 1215 and/orchecksum 1217. Such a configuration may be advantageous when thetransmission system 20 is transmitting data and the receiver system 30does not need to receive significant electrical power to charge the load16 (e.g., when the load 16 is at a full load or fully charged state and,thus, the receiver system 30 may not need to send much power-relateddata).

In some examples, as illustrated, some data 320, 330 may be preceded byacknowledgment data 342, 343, which includes, but is not limited toincluding, at least the ACK signal 1213 and, in some examples, mayfurther include a CB 1215 and/or a checksum 1217, each of which arediscussed in more detail above. The acknowledgement data 342, 343 may beassociated with an acknowledgement of receipt of a previouslytransmitted member of the stream of data 320A-N, 330A-N, within asubsequent window of the previously transmitted member of the stream ofdata 320A-N, 330A-N. For example, consider that in a first transmissioncommunication window 321, a first data 320A is encoded and transmittedduring the first period of time [t = 0 : T]. Then, a receiveracknowledgment data 343A will be encoded and transmitted, by thereceiver controller 38, within a second receiver communications window331, during a second period of time [t = T : 2T].

Therefore, by encoding the data 320, 330, 342, 343 sequentially andwithin timed, alternating windows in the power signal of the antennas21, 31, this may make the alternation of data passage nearlyunnoticeable, and, thus, the communications are virtually simultaneouslytwo-way, as the user experience does not register as alternatingsenders.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram 110 of a one or more components of thewireless power transfer system 10, including the transmission controller28 and the receiver controller 38 of, respectively, the wirelesstransmission system 20 and the wireless receiver system 30. The diagram110 illustrates a configuration of the system 10 capable of bufferingdata in order to facilitate virtual two-way communications. Thetransmission controller 28 may receive data from a first datasource/recipient 1433A associated with the wireless transmission system20; however, it is certainly contemplated that the source of the datafor the transmission controller 28 is the transmission controller 28and/or any data collecting/providing elements of the wirelesstransmission system 20, itself. The data source/recipient 1433A may beoperatively associated with a host device 11 that hosts or otherwiseutilizes the wireless transmission system 20. Data provided by the datasource/recipient 1433A may be processed by the transmission controller28, transmitted from the transmission antenna 21 to the receiver antenna31, processed by the receiver controller 38, and, ultimately, receivedby a second data source/recipient 1433B.

The second data source/recipient 1433B may be associated with theelectronic device 14, which hosts or otherwise utilizes the wirelessreceiver system 30. The receiver controller 38 may receive data from afirst data source/recipient 1433B associated with the wireless receiversystem 30; however, it is certainly contemplated that the source of thedata for the receiver controller 38 is the receiver controller 38 and/orany data collecting/providing elements of the wireless receiver system30 itself. The data source/recipient 1433B may be operatively associatedwith an electronic device 14 that hosts or otherwise utilizes thewireless receiver system 30. Data provided by the data source/recipient1433B may be processed by the receiver controller 38, transmitted overthe field generated by the connection between the transmission antenna21 and the receiver antenna 31, processed by the transmission controller28, and, ultimately, received by a second data source/recipient 1433A.The second data source/recipient 1433A may be associated with the hostdevice 11, which hosts or otherwise utilizes the wireless transmissionsystem 20.

As shown, the illustrated example includes a series of buffers 1405,1407, 1409, 1411, 1423, 1425, 1427, 1429, each associated with one ofthe transmission controller 28 or the receiver controller 38. Thebuffers 1405, 1407, 1409, 1411, 1423, 1425, 1427, 1429 may be used toproperly order the data for transmission and receipt, especially whenthe communication between the wireless transmission system 20 andwireless receiver system 30 includes data of a type typically associatedwith a two-wire, physical, serialized data communications system, suchas the UART transceivers of FIG. 10 . In an embodiment, the output ofthe one or more buffers 1405, 1407, 1409, 1411, 1423, 1425, 1427, 1429in the wireless power transmission system is clocked to trigger buffereddata for transmission, meaning that the controller 28, 38 may beconfigured to output the buffered data at a regular, repeating, clockedtiming

In the illustrated example, the transmission controller 28 includes twooutgoing buffers 1405, 1407 to buffer outgoing communications, as wellas two incoming buffers 1409, 1411 to buffer incoming communications.Similarly, the receiver controller 28 includes two incoming buffers1429, 1427 to buffer incoming communications and two outgoing buffers1423, 1425 to buffer outgoing communications.

The purpose of these two-buffer sets, in an embodiment, is to manageoverflow by mirroring the first buffer in the chain to the second whenfull, allowing the accumulation of subsequent data in the now-clearedfirst buffer. Thus, for example, data entering buffer 1405 from datasource 1433A is accumulated until buffer 1405 is full or reaches somepredetermined level of capacity. At that point, the accumulated data istransferred into buffer 1407 so that buffer 1405 can again accumulatedata coming from the data source 1433A. Similarly, for example, dataentering buffer 1423 from data source 1433B is accumulated until buffer1423 is full or reaches some predetermined level of capacity. At thatpoint, the accumulated data is transferred into buffer 1425 so thatbuffer 1423 can again accumulate data coming from the data source 1433B.While the two-buffer sets are used in this illustration, by way ofexample, it will be appreciated that single buffers may be used or,alternatively, three-buffer or larger buffer sets may be used.Similarly, the manner of using the illustrated two-buffer sets is notnecessary in every embodiment, and other accumulation schemes may beused instead.

FIG. 23 is a timing diagram showing initial data input (lines 1501,1513), buffering (lines 1501, 1503, 1513, 1515), and wirelesstransmission (lines 1505, 1507, 1517, 1519), as well as receipt (line1509, 1521), buffering (line 1509, 1511, 1521, 1523), and data output(line 1511, 1523) in the context of a configuration, such as that shownin FIG. 14 . The first three lines of each data transfer (lines 1501,1503, 1505, 1511, 1513, 1515) show a series of data transfers forsending asynchronous incoming data such as UART data across a wirelessconnection. The last three lines of each data transfer (1507, 1509,1511, 1519, 1521, 1523) show the receipt and processing of embedded datain a wireless transmission.

As can be seen, the data stream in the first two lines 1501, 1503,represent incoming data received and buffered at the transmissioncontroller 28. The buffered data is then transmitted within theprescribed wireless data slots 1513 n in line 1505, which may, forexample, cover a very small portion of the transmission bandwidth. Note,that the wireless data slots 1513 n have no bearing on the timing ofdata receipt/internal transfer within the controllers 28, 38, but may beutilized for timing the modulation of the induced field between theantennas 21, 31 that is utilized for transmission of data.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 23 , line 1501 shows a series ofdata packets from the transmission system 20 (TX₀... TX_(n))sequentially input to a first outgoing buffer 1405 (Buff₀). Then, priorto transmission via the transmitter antenna 21, the series of datapackets (TX₀... TX_(n)) are input to the second outgoing buffer 1407(Buff₁), as illustrated in line 1503. Then, the transmission controller21 sequentially encodes the series of data packets (TX₀... TX_(n)) intothe driving signal for the transmitter antenna 21 (line 1505) which isthen received and/or detected in the magnetic field between the antennasantenna 21, 31, at the wireless receiver system 30 (line 1507).

As noted above, the last three lines 1507, 1509, 1511 show the receiptand processing of embedded data in the wireless transmission, and inparticular show wireless receipt of the data (1507), buffering of thereceived data (1509, 1511) and outputting of the buffered data (1511).Again, the output of the one or more buffers in the wireless powertransmission system may be clocked to trigger buffered data fortransmission.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 23 , line 1507 shows a series ofdata packets originating from the transmission system 20 (TX₀... TX_(n))and received at the receiver antenna 31 sequentially input to a firstinput buffer 1427 (Buff₃) of the receiver controller 38, upon sequentialdecoding of the series of data packets (TX₀... TX_(n)) by the receivercontroller 38 detection of the magnetic field between antennas 21, 31.Then, prior to output of the data to the data recipient 1433B, theseries of data packets (TX₀... TX_(n)) are input to a second inputbuffer 1429 (Buff₄) from the first input buffer (Buff₃), as illustratedin line 1511.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 20 , line 1501 shows a series ofdata packets (RX₀...RX_(n)) sequentially input to a first outgoingbuffer 1423 (Buff₀). Then, prior to transmission via altering the fieldbetween the receiver antenna 31 and the transmitter antenna 21, theseries of data packets (RX₀...RX_(n)) are input to the second outgoingbuffer 1425 (Buff₁), as illustrated in line 1503. Then, the receivercontroller 38 sequentially encodes the series of data packets(RX₀...RX_(n)) into in band of the wireless power transfer between theantennas 21, 31 (line 1505), the signal is then received and/or detectedin the magnetic field between the antennas antenna 21, 31, at thewireless transmission system 20 (line 1507).

As noted above, the lines 1507, 1509, 1511 show the receipt andprocessing of embedded data in the wireless transmission, and inparticular show wireless receipt of the data (1507), buffering of thereceived data (1509, 1511) and outputting of the buffered data (1511).Again, the output of the one or more buffers in the wireless powertransmission system may be clocked to trigger buffered data fortransmission.

As can be seen, the data stream in the lines 1513, 1515 representincoming data received and buffered at the receiver controller 38. Thebuffered data is then transmitted within the prescribed wireless dataslots 1513 n in line 1517, which may, for example, cover a very smallportion of the transmission bandwidth. Note, that the wireless dataslots 1513 n have no bearing on the timing of data receipt/internaltransfer within the controllers 28, 38, but may be utilized for timingthe modulation of the induced field between the antennas 21, 31 that isutilized for transmission of data.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 23 , line 1513 shows a series ofdata packets (RX₀... RX_(n)) originating at the receiver system 30 andsequentially input to a third outgoing buffer 1423 (Buffs). Then, priorto transmission via altering the field between the receiver antenna 31and the transmitter antenna 21, the series of data packets(RX₀...RX_(n)) are input to the fourth outgoing buffer 1425 (Buff₆), asillustrated in line 1515. Then, the receiver controller 38 sequentiallyencodes the series of data packets (RX₀...RX_(n)) in band of thewireless power transfer between the antennas 21, 31 (line 1517), thesignal is then received and/or detected in the magnetic field betweenthe antennas antenna 21, 31, at the wireless transmission system 20(line 1519).

As noted above, the three lines 1519, 1521, 1523 show the receipt andprocessing of embedded data in the wireless transmission, and inparticular show wireless receipt of the data (1519), buffering of thereceived data (1521, 1523) and outputting of the buffered data (1523).Again, the output of the one or more buffers in the wireless powertransmission system may be clocked to trigger buffered data fortransmission.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 23 , line 1519 shows the series ofdata packets (RX₀...RX_(n)) sequentially input to a third input buffer1409 (Buff₇) of the transmission controller 28, upon sequential decodingof the series of data packets (RX₀...RX_(n)) by the transmissioncontroller 28 detection of the magnetic field between antennas 21, 31.Then, prior to output of the data to the data recipient 1433A, theseries of data packets (RX₀...RX_(n)) are input to a fourth input buffer1411 (Buff₈) from the third input buffer (Buff₇), as illustrated in line1523.

As best illustrated in FIG. 22 , by utilizing the buffers and theability of both the transmission controller 28 and the receivercontroller 38 to encode data into the wireless power signal transmittedover the connection between the antennas 21, 31, such combinations ofhardware and software may simulate the two-wire connections (FIGS. 10,11 ), depicted as dotted, arrowed lines in FIG. 14 . Thus, the systemsand methods disclosed herein may be implemented to provide a “virtualwired” serial and/or “virtual wired” UART data communications system,method, or protocol, for data transfer between the wireless transmissionsystem 20 and the wireless receiver system 30 and/or between the hostdevices thereof. “Virtual wired,” as defined herein, refers to awireless data connection, between two devices, that simulates thefunctions of a wired connection and may be utilized in lieu of saidwired connection.

In contrast to the wired serial data transmission systems such as UART,as discussed in reference to FIGS. 17 and 18 , the systems and methodsdisclosed herein eliminate the need for a wired connection betweencommunicating devices, while enabling a data communication interpretableby legacy systems that utilize known data protocols, such as UART.Further, in some examples, such legacy-compatible systems may enablemanufacturers to quickly introduce wireless data and/or powerconnections between devices, without needing to fully reprogram theirdata protocols and/or without having to hinder interoperability betweendevices.

Additionally or alternatively, such systems and methods for datacommunications, when utilized as part of a combined wireless power andwireless data system, may provide for much faster legacy datacommunications across an inductive wireless power connection, incomparison to legacy systems and methods for in-band communications.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example, non-limiting embodiment of one or moreof the transmission antenna 21 and the receiver antenna 31 that may beused with any of the systems, methods, and/or apparatus disclosedherein. In the illustrated embodiment, the antenna 21, 31, is a flatspiral coil configuration. Non-limiting examples can be found in U.S.Pat. Nos. 9,941,743, 9,960,628, 9,941,743 all to Peralta et al.;9,948,129, 10,063,100 to Singh et al.; 9,941590 to Luzinski; 9,960,629to Rajagopalan et al.; and U.S. Pat. App. Nos. 2017/0040107,2017/0040105, 2017/0040688 to Peralta et al.; all of which are assignedto the assignee of the present application and incorporated fully hereinby reference.

In addition, the antenna 21, 31 may be constructed having amulti-layer-multi-turn (MLMT) construction in which at least oneinsulator is positioned between a plurality of conductors. Non-limitingexamples of antennas having an MLMT construction that may beincorporated within the wireless transmission system(s) 20 and/or thewireless receiver system(s) 30 may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,610,530,8,653,927, 8,680,960, 8,692,641, 8,692,642, 8,698,590, 8,698,591,8,707,546, 8,710,948, 8,803,649, 8,823,481, 8,823,482, 8,855,786,8,898,885, 9,208,942, 9,232,893, and 9,300,046 to Singh et al., all ofwhich are assigned to the assignee of the present application areincorporated fully herein. These are merely exemplary antenna examples;however, it is contemplated that the antennas 21, 31 may be any antennacapable of the aforementioned higher power, high frequency wirelesspower transfer.

With respect to any of the data transmission systems disclosed herein,it should be appreciated that either or both of the wireless powersender and the wireless power receiver may wirelessly send in-bandlegacy data. Moreover, the systems, methods, and apparatus disclosedherein are designed to operate in an efficient, stable and reliablemanner to satisfy a variety of operating and environmental conditions.The systems, methods, and/or apparatus disclosed herein are designed tooperate in a wide range of thermal and mechanical stress environments sothat data and/or electrical energy is transmitted efficiently and withminimal loss. In addition, the system 10 may be designed with a smallform factor using a fabrication technology that allows for scalability,and at a cost that is amenable to developers and adopters. In addition,the systems, methods, and apparatus disclosed herein may be designed tooperate over a wide range of frequencies to meet the requirements of awide range of applications.

In an embodiment, a ferrite shield may be incorporated within theantenna structure to improve antenna performance. Selection of theferrite shield material may be dependent on the operating frequency asthe complex magnetic permeability (µ=µ′-j*µ″) is frequency dependent.The material may be a polymer, a sintered flexible ferrite sheet, arigid shield, or a hybrid shield, wherein the hybrid shield comprises arigid portion and a flexible portion. Additionally, the magnetic shieldmay be composed of varying material compositions. Examples of materialsmay include, but are not limited to, zinc comprising ferrite materialssuch as manganese-zinc, nickel-zinc, copper-zinc, magnesium-zinc, andcombinations thereof.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” preceding a series ofitems, with the term “and” or “or” to separate any of the items,modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e.,each item). The phrase “at least one of” does not require selection ofat least one of each item listed; rather, the phrase allows a meaningthat includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least oneof any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of theitems. By way of example, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or“at least one of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C;any combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, andC.

The predicate words “configured to”, “operable to”, and “programmed to”do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of asubject, but, rather, are intended to be used interchangeably. In one ormore embodiments, a processor configured to monitor and control anoperation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed tomonitor and control the operation or the processor being operable tomonitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured toexecute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute codeor operable to execute code.

A phrase such as “an aspect” does not imply that such aspect isessential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to allconfigurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to anaspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations.An aspect may provide one or more examples of the disclosure. A phrasesuch as an “aspect” may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa. Aphrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment isessential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies toall configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating toan embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments.An embodiment may provide one or more examples of the disclosure. Aphrase such an “embodiment” may refer to one or more embodiments andvice versa. A phrase such as a “configuration” does not imply that suchconfiguration is essential to the subject technology or that suchconfiguration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. Adisclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations,or one or more configurations. A configuration may provide one or moreexamples of the disclosure. A phrase such as a “configuration” may referto one or more configurations and vice versa.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” or as an “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Furthermore, to theextent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in thedescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extentthat the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the descriptionor the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similarto the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as atransitional word in a claim.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousaspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or latercome to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in thecase of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “stepfor.”

Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one andonly one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.”Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one ormore. Pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine andneuter gender (e.g., her and its) and vice versa. Headings andsubheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit thesubject disclosure.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but ratheras descriptions of particular implementations of the subject matter.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a sub combination. As a further example, itwill be appreciated that although UART and the NFC protocols are used asspecific example communications schemes herein, other wired and wirelesscommunications techniques may be used where appropriate while embodyingthe principles of the present disclosure.

1. A wireless power transmission system comprising: a transmitterantenna configured to couple with at least one other antenna andtransmit alternating current (AC) wireless signals to the at least oneother antenna at an operating frequency of the wireless powertransmission system, the AC wireless signals including wireless powersignals and wireless data signals; an amplifier comprising: at least onetransistor that is configured to receive a driving signal at a gate ofthe at least one transistor and invert a direct power (DC) input powersignal to generate the AC wireless signals at the operating frequency;and a damping circuit that is configured to dampen the AC wirelesssignals during transmission of the wireless data signals, wherein thedamping circuit includes at least a damping transistor that isconfigured to receive, from a transmission controller, a damping signalfor switching the damping transistor to control damping duringtransmission of the wireless data signals; and a transmitter integratedcircuit comprising: a transmission controller that is configured to (i)provide the driving signal for driving the transmitter antenna based onan operating frequency for the wireless power transmission system and(ii) perform one or more of encoding the wireless data signals, decodingthe wireless data signals, receiving the wireless data signals, ortransmitting the wireless data signals; and a variable resistor inelectrical connection with the transmitter antenna and configured toalter a quality factor (Q) of the transmitter antenna, whereinalterations in the Q by the variable resistor change an operating modeof the wireless power transmission system.
 2. The wireless powertransmission system of claim 1, wherein the variable resistor isconfigured to receive instructions from the transmission controller, andwherein the transmission controller is further configured to determinean operating mode for the wireless power transmission system and provideinstructions to the variable resistor to alter the Q to facilitate theoperating mode.
 3. The wireless power transmission system of claim 2,wherein the operating mode is selected from a plurality of transmissionmodes and the plurality of transmission modes includes a firsttransmission mode and a second transmission mode, the first transmissionmode includes a first data rate for the wireless data signals and afirst power level for the wireless power signals, the secondtransmission mode includes a second data rate for the wireless datasignals and a second power level for the wireless power signals, whereinthe first data rate is less than the second data rate, and wherein thefirst power level is greater than the second power level.
 4. Thewireless power transmission system of claim 3, wherein the firsttransmission mode is a power-priority transmission mode.
 5. The wirelesspower transmission system of claim 3, wherein the second transmissionmode is a data-priority transmission mode.
 6. The wireless powertransmission system of claim 1, wherein selecting the operating mode fortransmission of the AC wireless signals, by the transmission controller,is based, at least in part, on at least one receiver operatingcondition, the at least one receiver operating condition associated witha wireless power receiver system.
 7. The wireless power transmissionsystem of claim 6, wherein the at least one receiver operating conditionincludes a charge level of a load operatively associated with thewireless power receiver system.
 8. The wireless power transmissionsystem of claim 6, wherein the at least one receiver operating conditionincludes one or more of a coupling between the transmitter antenna andthe at least one other antenna, a displacement between the transmitterantenna and the at least one other antenna, or combinations thereof. 9.The wireless power transmission system of claim 2, wherein the operatingmode includes a power level for the wireless power signals and a datarate for the wireless data signals, the power level chosen from a seriesof available power levels and the data rate chosen from a series ofavailable data rates, each of the series of available power levelscorresponding to one of the series of available data rates, whereincorresponding pairs of available power levels and available data ratesare inversely related.
 10. The wireless power transmission system ofclaim 9, wherein determining the operating mode for transmission of theAC wireless signals, by the transmission controller, includesdetermining the power level for the operating mode based on a selectedpower level, the selected power level corresponding to a correspondingmember of the series of power levels, and determining the data rate forthe operating mode based on a corresponding data rate, the correspondingdata rate being a member of the series of data rates that correspondswith the corresponding member of the series of power levels.
 11. Thewireless power transmission system of claim 9, wherein determining theoperating mode for transmission of the AC wireless signals, by thetransmission controller, includes determining the data rate for theoperating mode based on a selected data rate, the selected data ratecorresponding to a corresponding member of the series of data rates, anddetermining the power level for the operating mode based on acorresponding power level, the corresponding power level being a memberof the series of power levels that corresponds with the correspondingmember of the series of data rates.
 12. The wireless power transmissionsystem of claim 9, wherein determining the operating mode includesdetermining one or both of the power level and the data rate, for theoperating mode, by referencing a look up table of corresponding pairs ofthe series of available power levels and the series of available datarates.
 13. The wireless power transmission system of claim 1, whereinthe operating frequency is in a range of about 13.553 MHz to about13.567 MHz.
 14. A wireless power transmission system comprising: atransmitter antenna configured to couple with at least one other antennaand transmit alternating current (AC) wireless signals to the at leastone other antenna at an operating frequency of the wireless powertransmission system, the AC wireless signals including wireless powersignals and wireless data signals; an amplifier including at least onetransistor that is configured to receive a driving signal at a gate ofthe at least one transistor and invert a direct power (DC) input powersignal to generate the AC wireless signals at the operating frequency;and a transmitter integrated circuit comprising: a transmissioncontroller that is configured to (i) provide the driving signal fordriving the transmitter antenna based on the operating frequency for thewireless power transmission system and (ii) perform one or more ofencoding the wireless data signals, decoding the wireless data signals,receiving the wireless data signals, or transmitting the wireless datasignals; a damping circuit that is configured to dampen the AC wirelesssignals during transmission of the wireless data signals, wherein thedamping circuit includes at least a damping transistor that isconfigured to receive, from the transmission controller, a dampingsignal for switching the damping transistor to control damping duringtransmission of the wireless data signals; and a variable resistor inelectrical connection with the transmitter antenna and configured toalter a quality factor (Q) of the transmitter antenna, whereinalterations in the Q by the variable resistor change an operating modeof the wireless power transmission system.
 15. The wireless powertransmission system of claim 14, wherein the variable resistor isconfigured to receive instructions from the transmission controller, andwherein the transmission controller is further configured to determinean operating mode for the wireless power transmission system and provideinstructions to the variable resistor to alter the Q to facilitate theoperating mode.
 16. The wireless power transmission system of claim 15,wherein the operating mode is selected from a plurality of transmissionmodes and the plurality of transmission modes includes at least a firsttransmission mode and a second transmission mode, the first transmissionmode includes a first data rate for the wireless data signals and afirst power level for the wireless power signals, the secondtransmission mode includes a second data rate for the wireless datasignals and a second power level for the wireless power signals, whereinthe first data rate is less than the second data rate, and wherein thefirst power level is greater than the second power level.
 17. Thewireless power transmission system of claim 16, wherein the firsttransmission mode is a power-priority transmission mode.
 18. Thewireless power transmission system of claim 16, wherein the secondtransmission mode is a data-priority transmission mode.
 19. The wirelesspower transmission system of claim 14, wherein selecting the operatingmode for transmission of the AC wireless signals, by the transmissioncontroller, is based, at least in part, on at least one receiveroperating condition, the at least one receiver operating conditionassociated with a wireless power receiver system.
 20. The wireless powertransmission system of claim 19, wherein the at least one receiveroperating condition includes a charge level of a load operativelyassociated with the wireless power receiver system.